Osinbajo advocates for strategy to transform Africainnovation based society
Africa into knowledge-based and innovation-led society.
Osinbajo made the call through the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Maryam Katagum, who represented him at the maiden edition of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) Young CEOs Summit.
He identified Africa’s vibrant human resources as its greatest hope for development.
“Young people make up the bulk of Africa’s population with an estimated 75 per cent of the continent’s population below the age of 35 years. “From a demographic point of view, this calls for a paradigm shift towards the recognition and support of young people to harness their potential.
“Therefore, to accelerate Africa’s transition to an innovation-led, knowledge-based economy, our human resources must be empowered with requisite skills.
“Greater emphasis must be placed on innovation, including appropriate adaptation of technology,’’ Katagum said on behalf of Osinbajo.
She emphasized the need to promote creativity and innovative technologies to process the continent’s abundant resources locally in addition to creating more wealth and jobs for the continent.
She said there was the need to develop internal capacities and marketing of new or improved products and services through engagement with end users.
Following this, VP disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology had been rebranded to meet future technology demands.
“This will create new opportunities for value-added employment and the nation’s GDP will improve as a result of innovation and technological development,’’ Katagum added.
She expressed hope that Africa would continue to develop capacities to take advantage of relevant technologies to facilitate e-commerce and leadership excellence.
“Leaders are expected to think creatively and facilitate the creative work of others, but traditional approaches to developing leaders have not fully addressed this need.
“A key problem with regards to developing creative and innovative leadership capacity is the low leverage on technology.
“Young leaders must explore and leverage on technology means such as e-mentoring, multisource feedback, social media, and succession planning programs,’’ she said.
She also reiterated that the FG’s commitment to create an enabling environment to facilitate the actualization of innovative …