President John Dramani Mahama has urged African leaders to empower youth and women in governance, emphasizing their crucial role in shaping the continent’s future.
According to him, over 60% of Africa’s population is under 25 and underscored the need for member states to champion innovative policies that will include the youth and women in decision making.
“Africa’s future lies in its youth over 60% of our population is under the age of 25, and yet the voices are largely absent in policy making. We must institutionalize frameworks that empower young people and women to lead at all levels of governance,” president Mahama stated.
Speaking at a retreat on the implementation of institutional reforms of the African Union (AU) in Nairobi, Kenya, President Mahama highlighted Ghana’s historic election of its first female vice president and called for institutional frameworks to harness youth creativity and energy.
“I’m happy to report that in the last election for the first time in Ghana’s history, we elected a woman as our vice president. The energy of our youth, creativity and vision are the drivers of the Africa that we all seek to build,” he added.
Despite some significant strides in achieving trade liberalization amongst member states, President Mahama also reiterated the need to remove trade barriers, harmonize regulations and invest in infrastructure to fully realize the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA).
“The African continent, our free trade area, has set the foundation for a single African market. But much work remains to be done. We must address the barriers to trade. We must harmonize regulatory framework and invest in infrastructure to unlock the potential of intra African trade.,” president Mahama explained.
Source: /Ghana/starrfm.com.gh/Abdul-Hanan Adam
