We will transform African Capacity- ACBF

Accra, July 28, GNA- The Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) on Wednesday stressed its determination to transform the capacity of Africans as a means of making the continent be in the driving seat in achieving her development agenda.

Briefing journalists at a press conference in Accra, Dr Soumana Sako, Executive Secretary of ACBF, said the days when African economies relied heavily on expatriate expertise to move forward was nearly gone, especially with the numerous capacity building and training activities that the Foundation had embarked on since 1991.

Dr Sako has been in the country since Monday holding discussions with the government and civil societies on the role of the ACBF, its programmes and constraints.

He described discussions with government officials as "positive and fruitful" and commended Ghana's role in making the ACBF take a frontline position.

The ACBF is to help build and effectively utilize human and institutional capacity to manage the development of the continent. He said the ABDF was keen to filling the vacuum of the deficit of local experts and urged member countries and international agencies to stick to their pledges.

Dr Sako said ACBF in Association with the Universities of Ghana and Makerere in Uganda, Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire and Yaounde in Cameroon had designed training programmes with the view to training Africans to comparable levels of what is offered in Havard in the US, Oxford or the London School of Economics in the UK.

"I can say that with the training that we are providing and that which other training institutions can provide, Africa will soon do away with the practice of expatriate experts."

Dr Sako said Africa should not shy away from globalisation, but embrace, it and build capacity in areas such as negotiation in international free trade and bridging the digital divide in accessing information, generated by Africa.

"Africans should stop bemoaning globalisation because it started long ago. We must now work to make globalisation work to our advantage," Dr Sako added.

Dr Douglas Zormelo, Executive Director of ACBF, said Africa would soon be able to manage its own economic and social problems from an African perspective.