Three ambassadors representing the African Union Mission in the United States, Tanzania and Mozambique spoke to AU students and staff about contemporary issues facing Africa, including the importance of global partnerships, entrepreneurship and education on April 16 in the School of International Service Founders Room.
The event was hosted by the student group Africa Initiative, who focused the discussion under the theme “Moving Africa Forward.” The three ambassadors, all of whom were women, spoke about barriers their countries must overcome to take a larger role in the modern global economy and international politics.
The three ambassadors, Her Excellency Amina Salum Ali of the African Union, Liberata Mulamula of the United Republic of Tanzania and Amelia Matos Sumbana of the Republic of Mozambique, each focused on one of the topics, globalization, entrepreneurship and education, during their portion of the panel.
Ali talked about the new wave of growth and development sweeping across the continent during her discussion of global partnerships. She said that in such an environment, African countries, specifically the 54 nations that are members of the African Union, need to “realize [their] potential.”
The African voice needs to be heard on a more global scale, and to do so countries must continue to work to cooperate with one another, according to Ali.
“We have to integrate, we have to join hands in our development,” Ali said. “In order for the african voice, we need partners to work with us.”
During the second portion of the panel, Mulamula spoke about the importance of empowering young entrepreneurs throughout Africa to create their own opportunities through small businesses.
“You can start small, but you can grow big,” she said.
Sumbana was the last speaker of the panel and rounded out the event’s discussion of how to move African countries forward in the global community. She addressed the current state of education in Mozambique. She also encouraged students to remember that Africa is more than one block of states and people but that it is comprised of individual countries each with a unique culture.
“People are starting to learn that each of the 53 countries are different,” Sumbana said. “We are all Africans, but we are all different.”
kmagill@theeagleonline.com
