Pan Africanism Should Flourish as Idea of Cooperative Integration, Global Competitiveness: PM Abiy

Addis Ababa (ENA) February 19/2023 Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said pan Africanism should flourish as an idea of cooperative integration, global competitiveness and peaceful coexistence.

The first pan Africanism forum organized by African Leadership Excellence Academy (AFLEX) was held in Sululta in the presence of African head of states and government, policy makers and academician among others.

Addressing the forum, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that the vast campus and state- of- the-art facility is envisioned to host Africans from all corners of the continent.

He added that we envision AFLEX to be where African leaders, academics and professional gather to exchange ideas, make decisions and set a continental agenda.

It also serves as incubator for future leaders where three generations of existing and emerging leaders can learn one another, and hence the establishment of this academy is a testimony of Ethiopia’s commitment to sustaining the richness of pan Africanism, the premier said.

This year marks 60 anniversary of the founding of the OAU. We also observe the 10 year anniversary of the launching of agenda 2063. These two milestones capture the spirit of today’s forum—celebrating the past, envisioning the future, Abiy added. 

“As we reflect on our past journey of many achievements and setbacks and as we navigates changing world, it is imperative we also dream and define the decade that lie ahead of us, hence, reinvigorating pan Africanism for a changing world is a critical assignment we must take up in our aspiration to articulate and elevate our African Union,” he said.

Reinvigorating and recalibrating pan Africanism requires us to disrupt the status quo and leap in the future, he said adding that potentials need to change into products; our minds need to transform our planets. We need to create green and clean environment like this academy.

“Pan Africanism should flourish as an idea of cooperative integration, global competitiveness and peaceful coexistence. African youth and women should share their due space in leadership and development.

We cannot let constructed divides, geographic boundaries and political ideologies hijack our Pan African ideals,” he said.

“Pan Africanism should flourish as an idea of cooperative integration, global competitiveness and peaceful coexistence. We can let constructed divides, geographic boundaries and political ideologies hijack our Pan African ideals,” he said.

According to Abiy, the crises in global leadership call for Africans to step up collectively and think beyond our confines. The changing world is yet to be defined and calls for a new brand of leaders that are agenda setter, creative thinkers and solution makers.

This is an academy that would raise and shape such African leaders. Such forums are the necessary platform to cultivate a habit of dialoging into the future, he said.

The AFLEX Academy is set up to become a premiere learning institution- nurturing development and growth oriented mindsets with the capacity to meet the demands of the 21th century leadership in the public, civic and private sectors with a pan African orientation.

The first pan African forum held under the theme “Reinvigorating Pan Africanism for a Changing World,” was attended by Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari, Somalia president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Uganda vice president Jessica Alupo among others.

Finally, the head of states and government planted trees on the premises of African Leadership Excellence Academy.