The African Leadership Network, a community of some of the most dynamic and influential leaders working to create change in Africa and aiming to contribute towards Africa’s prosperity by strengthening relationships between leaders, will hold its annual gathering from November 3, to November 4, in Mauritius.
Fred Swaniker, co-founder of the Group, on Thursday said that the ALN is trying to contribute to the improvement of the quality of leadership on the continent. But, he added, “Africa will only rise if it works as a continent and unless we can bring our nations together, no country will achieve its true potential”.
According to him, one of the big deficits in Africa is trust, “where people don’t know each other and unless there is trust in any society, you cannot grow economically.”
“People will not invest in a country unless trust can be enforced by law. So, we are trying to improve the trust caution of Africa by bringing together African leaders, getting them to build relations with each other and understand each other’s countries and cultures and then create a platform that can enable this Pan-African growth and development,” Swaniker said.
This annual meeting is being organized for the second time since the creation of ALN in 2010, in Mauritius – the first time was in 2014.
Mr Swaniker said: “Our hope is that we’ll actually keep the gathering here. Just like the World Economic Forum is always held in Davos, in Switzerland.
“We would like Mauritius to become a sort of Davos for Africa where every year we’ll bring these leaders from across the continent to build relationships.
“We could not think of a better place to a long term home than Mauritius because of the stability of the country. It is also one of the few countries in Africa that has liberalized visa travel for business people for 50 African countries, making it very easy for business leaders to get here. It is also a stable country.”
Swaniker, who is Ghanaian by birth, has since lived in several African countries, including Mauritius.
“From experience and living and working on the continent, I have become very very passionate about Africa. I believe in its true potential as a continent. I realized that the real unlocking of Africa’s potential needs talent and leadership.
“If you look through history, there is no nation that has become prosperous with natural resources. Mauritius is a wonderful example of that. This country has invested in its people and education has been a priority and there is good leadership. Over the years, we can see the impact of that,” he said.
