Tanzanian President Magufuli address statesman at the 6th African Leadership Forum
Staff Writer, DAR ES SALAAM – President of the United Republic of Tanzania and SADC Chairman, Dkt. John Pombe Magufuli has reminded African Statesmen why the Continent remains poor amidst vast richness of natural resources.
He cited lack of innovation, industrial technology and misinterpretation of developmental foundations to be two main causatives of resources mismanagement leading to poverty in the African continent.
Addressing the 6th African Leadership Forum held on Thursday at the State House in Dar es salaam, President Magufuli said the misinterpretation development foundations have made many African leaders to travel in developed countries to seek loans and aids instead of investing on how to manage the African resources.
President Magufuli stressed on the importance of managing African resources by citing the late Father of the Nation in Tanzania, Mwalimu Nyerere who believed on four things to achieve African development: People, land, good politics and leadership.
“The former colonial masters are not our uncles. They will never unleash full good will to facilitate our development. We must do it on our own ways,” he told a gathering of experts and the former leaders.
President Magufuli has also said that lack of innovation and industrial technology to produce goods that will generate employment opportunities, internal conflicts triggered by imperialists to continue dominating and siphoning the African resources and African leaders who sign bogus contracts with investors have, are other major obstacles to African development.
He cited other causatives of African underdevelopment to be lack of patriotism among African leaders and political parties leading to being turned into agents of capitalism leading to conflicts in their own countries and distraction of natural resources and environment.
He used the occasion to stress that his government has already started to implement austerity measures to managing well national resources, abolishing corruption in public sectors, reviewing bogus exploitative mining contracts, investing on industrial development and innovation and managing natural resources for further development of Tanzania.
He cited the construction of mega projects like the 2,115 megawatts Julius Nyerere Hydro Power project which is financed by taxpayers’ money at the cost of tsh 6.5 trillion ($ 3 billion) expected to be completed by 2022.
The Forum is attended by Tanzania’s former Presidents: William Benjamin Mkapa, Jakaya Kikwete; Nigeria’s General Olusegun Obasanjo; South African Former President Thabo Mbeki; Somalia former President Hassan Mohamed, Madagascar’s former President Hery Rajaonarima and other high level experts.
