Geingob preaches emancipation on Africa Day

President Hage Geingob says the pursuit of economic freedom and development should result in the economic emancipation of the entire African continent.

In his speech during an event celebrating Africa Day in Windhoek yesterday, Geingob said responding to the needs of the modern world requires Africans to enhance their governance architecture to act in the best interest of the whole continent.

“Without economic freedom and development our freedom would remain incomplete.

“To this extent, Africa has undergone a period of steady growth and advancement since the days of the First Wave of African leaders, freedom-fighting pioneers and extraordinary personalities, who paved the way towards independence,” he said.

Geingob said it is encouraging that the process of popularising Africa and African unity has already started in Namibia.

Founding president Sam Nujoma at the event said the African continent is rich with abundant natural resources, and investing in infrastructure is the key to the continent’s growth.

“The people of the Republic of Congo need to be freed to develop beyond mere rhetoric in order to provide African Union (AU) members with cheaper electricity supply.

“As Africans we have a responsibility to promote peace and security on the continent,” he said.
Nujoma said the youth should not allow themselves to be divided by divide-and-rule tactics.

“I therefore call on the African youth to prepare themselves to defend the territorial integrity and airspace of the African continent against imperialist and foreign aggression,” he said.

Minister of international relations and cooperation Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said Africa has everything it needs to be free from poverty.

“We have the people, we have the natural resources, we just need the right mind, good governance, and focus to take the people of Africa out of poverty as that is the Africa we want,” she said.

The day was commemorated under the theme ‘Our Africa, Our Future’.

“The theme speaks to the hope we have in our young people to drive the development of our continent, to achieve the vision of the AU, namely an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena,” she said.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said agenda 2063 would only be realised when Africans learn to do business in a holistic and unified manner.

“The AU agenda is calling for an inclusive strategy led by the people of Africa, including women and youth.

“We must remind ourselves as Africans that we must take advantage of our youthful population to turn the tables for the better.

“We must pick up a strong political will, commitment, and determination for Africa to become a force to be reckoned with in the world economic agenda,” she said.

High commissioner of Tanzania Modestus Kipilimba said Africans should make sure the available natural resources are used to develop the continent.

“Cooperation between countries in Africa, such as knowledge transfer, the movement of capital, and common languages are things that should not be ignored,” he said.

Kapilimba said with existing achievements the continent is still faced with challenges.

“It is hard to move forward and implement initiatives. We need to encourage talks between conflicting partners. Africa’s problems must be solved by Africans,” he said.