Empower African youth to accelerate progression of transformation agenda—Mugambage

{Celebrating the Africa Day/African Liberation Day, which was observed last week, offers a great opportunity to sensitize and raise awareness among the general population but most importantly, among the youth who bear the responsibility to carry on the struggle for Africa’s emancipation, Rwanda’s ambassador to Uganda H.E Frank Mugambage has said.}

Attending the function in Kampala during which the day was marked, Mugambage said it is also the time to reflect on the liberation journey Africa has gone through, including the struggle for ending colonial occupation and embarking on building a future we desire and deserve.

“Increasingly, there is greater proactive thinking and thoughtful collaboration across the different echelons of leadership and across our regions and continent. AU Agenda 2063 is an outcome of such processes and so are the many infrastructural projects initiated under the northern corridor framework,” he said.

The ambassador noted that the good practice needs to be extended on to the youth of Africa, if the continent is to increase the progression of the transformation agenda. “We need a youthful population that is zealous of harnessing opportunities and fully aware of the challenges. To achieve this, all efforts should be made to add value to this vital human resource, by providing quality education, and building a culture of working hard and smarter and enhance creativity.

“We need to significantly increase the mass of people equipped with relevant knowledge and technology to exploit and add value to the massive resources endowed to our continent so as to solve the “Paradox” of an abundantly resourced Africa that has not transformed economically to enable the inhabitants’ quality of life.

Just to reflect briefly on what transformed the developed world: the first industrial revolution involved machines and factories, the 2nd, electricity and steel, the 3rd ICT and electronics, while the fourth is about going digital. Africa must catch up, through providing the necessary skills to our youthful generation to participate in the fourth industrial revolution,” he advised.