4 June 2008
Arusha — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza warned on Wednesday that, for Africa to develop speedily, African peoples themselves must change their attitude, raise their self-esteem, and become pro-active rather than reactive.
Speaking in the Tanzanian city of Arusha, at the eighth Leo Sullivan Summit, which brings together African leaders and African-Americans, mainly from the United States, Guebuza said it was time to stop blaming colonialism for everything that went wrong in Africa.
He said that, while it might be legitimate to point the finger of blame at slavery and colonialism for Africa's backwardness, they could not be used to explain the problems of today, decades after Africa had thrown off the colonial yoke.
"We must change our attitude", Guebuza insisted. "We must cultivate self-esteem, and we must have a more mature mentality, so that we can pass from the simple desire to develop our countries to practice".
Certainly Africa's major problem was poverty - but Guebuza stressed that poverty could only be fought against effectively with a change in attitude. So far African leaderships had talked about the need to develop their countries, but this had not been accompanied with practical actions. Until it was, Africa would remain a backward continent.
He once again stressed the importance of technical and vocational education. Most African countries, he said, had built schools that taught theory, and that gave pupils the ability to read and write, but did not teach the practical skills, the know-how, that would enable them to develop their countries.
Guebuza declared that his dream is to build technical schools throughout Mozambique, particularly in the rural areas where the majority of the population lives. If the money were available, the Mozambican government would build at least one technical school in each of the country's 128 districts, so that young rural dwellers could conclude their basic and mid-level studies learning useful skills.
He urged the more than 1,000 African-American delegates present at this conference to help African countries set up technical schools, and polytechnic institutes of higher education.
At the end of the Wednesday session, many delegates could be heard commenting that Guebuza was one of the few speakers who had called things by their correct names, rather than wasting time blaming colonialism for all the ills of the continent.
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