The African Union has stressed the need for Africans to change their mindset in order to be part of the ongoing plans and efforts to secure a more prosperous continent.
While briefing the Speakers of the African Parliaments on the African Union’s Agenda 2063 in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday, the chairperson of the African Union, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said the agenda captured the common aspirations of africans under seven categories, including integration, peace and security, cultural identity and people-driven development.
Her presentation was as detailed as it was lauded by every speaker on the floor before she started responding to their questions on how the AU intended to achieve the 2063 agenda.
She pointed out that the union was not looking to achieve the entire agenda by 2063, but stressed that development would be in stages before the set time.
“We are not saying that everything will only be achieved by 2063. But we are saying, those who will be looking at Africa by the year 2063, what type of Africa would they be looking at,” she said.
Few countries in Africa are having security challenges and that was not left out by the speakers of the Parliament in their questions.
She, however, stressed that “as much as there will not be development if there is no peace, peace cannot be sustained if there is no development”.
“The most important transformation that we have to go through for the agenda 2063 to succeed is our own mind set,” she emphasised.
Clearly, expectations are high, as there are other hurdles to scale through to realise the African aspirations in 2063.
Experts have emphasised the role of political will by leaders in the continent in achieving the needed results.
