Benedicta Lasi engages Bagbin, East African Speaker ahead of major Arusha Governance Forum

Executive Chair of the Africa Governance Centre, Benedicta Lasi, has held a high-level engagement with the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, and the Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Rt. Hon. Joseph Ntakirutimana, ahead of a major strategic governance forum in Arusha, Tanzania.

The meeting formed part of preparations for the Strategic Legislative Governance Forum, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow under the theme “Legislative Statecraft and Economic Transformation in Africa.”

The discussions focused on the upcoming forum and the critical role African legislatures must play in driving economic transformation, strengthening institutions and shaping sustainable development policies across the continent.

With African countries facing the difficult task of building productive economies, strengthening state capacity and responding to a rapidly changing global economic environment, the quality of legislation and long-term policy choices has emerged as a critical factor in determining the continent's development trajectory.

Benedicta Lasi's engagement with the two parliamentary leaders therefore provided an opportunity to explore how legislative institutions can become more effective engines of development.

The forum is being convened by the Africa Governance Centre in partnership with the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) and the Conference of Speakers and Presidents of African Legislatures (CoSPAL).

It will bring together parliamentary leaders, policymakers and governance experts to examine ways of strengthening African legislatures and positioning them to contribute more meaningfully to economic transformation.

A central question confronting participants will be how African parliaments can evolve into stronger institutions of development—capable of shaping, supporting and sustaining the economic transformation required to improve the lives of citizens.

Speaker Bagbin, who also serves as Chair of the Africa Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), is expected to play a significant role in the continental discussions.

The Arusha forum is consequently expected to provide a significant platform for African legislative leaders to exchange ideas on effective governance, institutional capacity and the role of parliament in building resilient and prosperous economies.