Former African leaders meet in Kigali to discuss financing

Dar es Salaam. Former African leaders will gather in Kigali, Rwanda, tomorrow to deliberate on the prospect of increased, improved and effective financing for Africa’s transformation.

Rwanda President Paul Kagame will deliver the keynote speech at the fifth African Leadership Forum (ALF), which is hosted by the former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Mr Benjamin William Mkapa, and organised by the Uongozi Institute.

The Uongozi Institute said in a statement yesterday that this year’s two-day forum goes under the theme “Financing Africa’s Transformation for Sustainable Development” and that it seeks to provide a platform to deliberate on the prospect of increased, improved and effective financing for Africa’s transformation. “The meeting will provide an opportunity to learn from the successes and set-backs in national, regional and continental attempts to address specific financing challenges and to put forward recommendations for unlocking increased financing for Africa’s development,” said the chief executive officer of the Uongozi Institute, Prof Joseph Semboja.

Participants of the Forum will include the former President of the Republic of Mozambique, Mr Joaquim Chissano, former President of the Republic of Nigeria, Mr Olusegun Obasanjo and their Tunisia and Somalia counterparts, Moncef Marzouki and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud respectively.

Over 100 other distinguished leaders from the public sector, private sector, academia and civil society will also be in attendance. Speakers at the event will include UNECA executive secretary Dr Vera Songwe, former African Development Bank president Dr Donald Kaberuka, former Central Bank of Kenya governor Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development secretary general Dr Mukhisa Kituyi and the World Trade Organisation deputy director general Dr Yonov Frederick Agah.