By Olayinka Ajayi

President Bola Tinubu, South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa and other African leaders have been called upon to address the urgent need to revitalise Pan-Africanism across the continent.

This was the submission of speakers at the two-day Global Excellence Summit themed ‘Global Excellence in Diplomacy and Leadership: Africa’s Path to Prosperity.Fielding questions from newsmen yesterday at the summit, renowned scholar of the African School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Amb. Professor Tunji Asaulu urged all African leaders on the need to urgently reawaken Pan-Africanism across the continent.

He said, “Our gathering here is an historic legacy that will last in the heart of everyone present. There’s a need to reward hard work and the urgent need for the likes of President Bola Tinubu, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and other African leaders to reawaken the spirit of Pan-Africanism because the Africa Union Agenda 2063 aims to build the Africa we want , the Africa we want to see in the next 50 years.

“That journey needs to start from now. We need to use what we have to get what we want, not depending on the Western influence because everything we need to grow is here in Africa. So there’s a need for us to speak in one voice to achieve the development we are envisaging in Africa.”

On her part, the convener of the summit, Amb. Dr Fatourmatta Gaye, while appreciating participantssaid, “We live in a world where Africans are leading in different sectors but are not being recognised for the amazing things that they are doing. So we bring together diplomats, government officials, business individuals and investors from across Africa and other parts of the world to discuss business opportunities in Africa for Africa to grow and generate from what it’s meant to be.

“What we are advocating is to bring business opportunities on one platform to be able to have a more informed decision when it comes to decisions that would benefit our continent.

“The businesspeople need those in government, and those in government need businesspeople to move the continent forward.Advocating for Agenda 2063 is what I am into; to see Africa that is united and archiving diplomacy is to know what the mindset of the people is.’

Also speaking was the High Commissioner of Gambia to Nigeria, Mohamadou Musa Njie , while insisting on the need to redefine our goal as a continent, posited that collaboration among all African states is key.

He said, “I am happy that we have been able to start discussing things that matter to Africa, which are communications, transportation, tourism and art and culture to connect Africa. These are the hanging issues we can use to build the Africa that we want. Also, there should be collaboration on the private sector level, looking at four or five key areas we can work on.

“How do we take the abundance we have in each country to where there is scarcity? Also, how do we add value to our products? As Africans, we must find a way of adding value to our goods. We, the government and the private sector, have to collaborate to achieve the goal of making Africa the Africa of our dreams.”