CATC chair challenges Africans to embrace social innovation, creativity

The conference was held from Friday to Sunday at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom on the Theme: ‘Forging Our Own Path’ and was widely graced by African scholars, business leaders and scholars.

Speaking on how to achieve forging our own path in Africa, Mr Ceesay said: “𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐓𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚.

“𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.

“𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲,t𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐰, 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡.”

He added that Africans must hold leaders to account and demand transparency and accountability in all aspects of governance.

“𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲,g𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐰. 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐰.”

“𝐈 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠e 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

He finally hailed 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 and attendees, as he enjoined upon them all to 𝐣𝐨𝐢n 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚’𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.