Mo Ibrahim wrote an article for Forbes that details “how (and why) Africa should solve its own problems”. Ibrahim is the founder and Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation established in 2006. The foundation seeks to “support good governance and exceptional leadership on the African continent”.

Ibrahim questions why the second largest continent in the world has such poor people. Why are we poor when we have resources like the land, sea and shores. He attributes this to the people being badly governed. And the continent having missed opportunities.

If the African continent wants to progress, “our economy, our social life, our legal structures and institutions” need to be managed properly. Governments need to deliver to their people without compromise. Leaders’ achievements in their respective countries needs to be measured. In order for leaders to produce results, these leaders need to be capable of running a country and providing leadership that will “benefit every single individual”. The leaders need to understand their responsibilities.

According to Ibrahim the most important challenge is African youth. Large sums of youth are coming forward but have no job opportunities, so how will this impact these youth? Ibrahim’s research team found that the average age of an African president is 63-years-old while the average age of a citizen is 19-years-old.

Another problem is the education system. As an African, you have less chance of getting a job if you are more educated according to Ibrahim. Ibrahim said:

This says something – education is too serious to be left to the few bureaucrats in ministries of education who have no connection to the real world. This is an area where you really need a national debate between business people, education specialists, and young people to know exactly what kind of work force we need to build in Africa.

With China running out of labour, will Africa be the next factory of the world? Unfortunately the continent is not ready for this. Infrastructure needs to be built and the youth need to be trained with the right skills. And this is a challenge for the continent.

A problem relating to this is that of “regional integration”. The African continent is made up of 53 countries. But moving goods from east to west is more expensive and difficult than if goods were taken from China and moved to West Africa. There need to be areas of free trade in Africa. Ibrahim suggests that borders should be opened to allow for “free movement of goods, people and capital”.

The continent needs to unite as one voice.

[Source: Forbes]