welcome to the african leadership series
where we bring you great inspirational
speeches of african leaders
the africa we want may never be realized
if we turn our backs on our cults
culture customs and heritage
furthermore to reoccur south africa's
foreign minister we must intensify
our efforts and retrieving our looted
cultural treasures which are being
housed in the museums
of the nations that stole them from us
and making money
from for them instead of for us
come what may whatever the obstacles
we must get them back and come
the african union has chosen arts
culture and heritage leave us for
building the africa we want
as a theme for the year which is
extremely commendable
a continent is divine defined by many
things
it is defined by its history to an
extent
it is defined by its geography to an
extent
it is defined by its economy to an
extent
it is defined by many other things
however
nothing defines a continent more than
the arts
culture customs heritage and tradition
in its traditions
aspiration 5 of agenda 2063
which says quote an africa with a strong
cultural
identity common heritage
shared values and ethics unquote
enjoins us to promote the history
identity
heritage and consciousness of african
peoples and their diaspora
it further encourages us to tap into
africa's rich heritage and culture
to ensure that the creative arts are
major contributors
to africa's growth and transformation
even whilst we are proud of our history
our culture and our arts we must
recognize
the forces of change and modernization
that are knocking insistently on our
doors
too often modernization has been seen as
synonymous
with westernization but modernization
is not necessarily the same as
westernization
as the experiences of the asian tigers
have shown
nations can modernize in their own way
borrowing from outside whilst
maintaining the essentials
of their own culture today
japan for example is a very successful
modern nation
but it is not western the success or
failure
of our modernization will be determined
largely
by how well we preserve what is good
about our culture
whilst modifying the aspects that no
longer suit our needs
as we dedicate this year to the
promotion of africa's arts culture and
heritage
against the background of increasing
global expression of
interest and investments in the sector
we should use the occasion
to promote the patenting of africa's
creative design
to protect intellectual intellectual
property folklore
and traditional knowledge and adopt
other messages
to protect us against counterfeiting and
piracy
i encourage all others to emulate the
laudable examples of those countries
which have committed themselves to the
process of restoration
to this end i have the honor two weeks
ago
to cut the sword for the construction of
a para-african world heritage museum
near winneba in the central region of
ghana which is intended to house
artifacts and cultural objects from all
parts of the pan-african world
when it opens its doors to the world it
will be a
major contributor to our ability to
imbibe a deep consciousness
of the ideals and goals of
pan-africanism
acting president honorable members
the overarching vision of agenda 2063
is to transform africa quote
into the global powerhouse of the future
unquote
whilst our numbers make us formidable in
the world
and we possess the requisite resources
human and natural
needed for progress and prosperity we
still have somewhere to go
towards realizing the objects of this
noble agenda
indeed the realities confronting our
respective countries
are those guaranteeing accelerated
sustainable development
the effective integration of our
economies into the high end of the
global value chain
the eradication of poverty and
inequality
and the marginalization of our nations
if we are to succeed in these endeavors
our best bet
is to be united the off-cited canadian
proverb
one broomstick on its own can be easily
broken
but put together cannot be broken should
be our guiding principle
the threats of climate change the
phenomenon of illegal mass migration
and the scourge of armed conflicts
terrorism
and violent exclusive extremism can be
met
head-on and defeated if we act together
one thing the pandemic of covet 19 has
taught all of us
is that we must hasten the process of
reasonable and continental integration
because acting together will boost our
capacity to succeed
from our inability to make our own
diagnostic tests
to the scramble for vaccines into the
shocks our respective economies have
suffered
resulting in a recession on the
continent it is obvious that we need
each other
and more so in combating the covered 19
pandemic
we must encourage south africa rwanda
senegal ghana and others to develop the
capacity to produce
our own vaccines so that we can more
effectively deal
with future pandemics and not be
dependent
on foreign supplies and benevolence for
the protection
of our peoples it's
it is the accelerated economic
integration
of committed nations on the continent
that will breathe
new life into the african union and
develop
deliver the benefits of african
integration
to the doorsteps of the african peoples
one critical instrument for the
realization of this
is the african continental free trade
area
whose training commenced on first
january
ghana has had the good fortune to be
awarded the honor
of hosting the secretariat of the afcfta
acting president honourable members we
have always lamented the low volume of
trade between the
countries on the continent which
currently stands as some
16 of our combined gdp
in that we all know that this is one of
the areas in which we have to improve
if we are to make progress in bringing
prosperity to our peoples
intra-regional trade in the european
union for example
stands at 75 of theirs
it is my belief that the operation of
the afcfta
comprising a market of some 1.2 billion
people
with a combined gdp of 3 trillion united
states dollars
marks a seminal moment in changing the
way business is conducted
among our nations it provides the
vehicle for us
to trade amongst each other in a more
modern and sophisticated manner
and will give us protection on how we
deal with other trading blocs
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