Ex-African Leaders Stress Need to Accelerate Integration, Tech Sovereignty for Africa’s Future

Addis Ababa, October 25, 2026 (ENA) — Former African leaders and senior officials called for accelerated continental integration, greater investment in technological capabilities, and stronger African institutions.

The call was made during a high-level panel at the 12th Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa in Bahir Dar, where former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, and Namibia’s National Planning Commission Director-General Kaire Mbuende discussed pathways to Africa’s geopolitical and economic transformation.

 

The former African leaders underscored the importance of reinforcing continental integration and technological capabilities to advance the continent’s economic sovereignty, collective security, and global influence.

Hailemariam emphasized that delays in implementing existing continental agreements continue to leave African countries vulnerable to external pressures and proxy conflicts.

He also urged leaders to translate commitments into tangible action.

“ For us African integration is all about an economic shield,” he said.  

Hailemariam stressed that closer economic cooperation would strengthen the continent’s ability to withstand external pressures.

 

“We cannot shield ourselves from the pressure that's coming from outside if we don't integrate. Second, our integration is geopolitical power. That's why I say accelerated integration is essential and critical for us,” he added.

Highlighting Africa’s critical minerals and energy-transition resources, which he described as “opportunity minerals,” Hailemariam warned that competition over these strategic assets could fuel instability if African countries failed to coordinate their resource policies and strengthen cooperation among producers.

He cited the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as an example of the risks facing resource-rich regions.

 

He also expressed concern over delays in implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), arguing that political commitments must be matched by concrete action.

Drawing on his role as chair of TradeMark Africa, he challenged African governments to move beyond signing agreements to delivering their intended benefits.

“There is political will in terms of signing treaties, but there is no political will in terms of delivering them,” he stated.

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, meanwhile, underscored the need for technological sovereignty, arguing that Africa cannot achieve genuine economic independence while relying heavily on foreign technology, expertise, and industrial inputs.

 

Illustrating the challenge, Jonathan said that even relatively minor technical repairs to infrastructure could require imported components and foreign specialists, leaving African economies dependent on external capabilities.

“What is there for Africa is to consume the products, and that is not industrialization,” he said.

“We can't talk about economic sovereignty without mentioning technological sovereignty,” he added.

Jonathan pointed to the experiences of India, South Korea, and Singapore, emphasizing the role of research-intensive universities in developing domestic expertise, driving innovation, and supporting industrial growth.

He urged African governments to invest strategically in specialized higher education and research institutions capable of producing the knowledge, technologies, and skilled professionals needed to support homegrown industries.

He also cautioned against borrowing primarily to finance consumption, calling instead for greater investment in productive assets, research, and domestic capacity building.

For his part, Namibia’s National Planning Commission Director-General Kaire Mbuende stressed that Africa’s collective strength depends on strong national institutions, effective regional cooperation, and capable continent-wide organizations.

 

“There cannot be a strong Africa without strong African countries, without strong regions, and without a strong continent-wide organization,” Mbuende said.

He described economic sovereignty as the ability to control and use natural resources for the benefit of African populations through industrialization, poverty reduction, and job creation.

“Economic sovereignty is first of all a question of control over our natural resources to use them for the benefit of our people through industrialization, reducing poverty, and ending unemployment,” he stated.

Mbuende also called for stronger domestic capacity and resource mobilization, renewed efforts to achieve the objectives of the Abuja Treaty, and the strengthening of long-proposed continental institutions.

He further urged reforms to global governance and closer cooperation among countries of the Global South to secure fairer financing conditions, noting concerns over the high borrowing costs faced by African countries despite their relatively low default rates.

The panelists stressed that Africa’s economic transformation depends on turning its existing agreements, natural resources, and development strategies into tangible results through faster implementation, technological investment, stronger institutions, and coordinated management of the continent’s resources.