Accra, Oct. 18, GNA - Sir Quett Ketumile Masire, Former President of Botswana on Tuesday said Africa loses more than 148 billion dollars annually to corruption.

He said in addition, corruption was negatively affecting the poor by inflating the cost of goods by about 20 per cent.

Sir Quett on a five-day visit to Ghana was delivering a lecture on the topic "Challenges of Leadership in 21st Century - Africa" at the University of Ghana, Legon.

He noted that corruption scared away investors, affected development, entrepreneurship and impeded growth by reducing domestic investments and tax inflows.

The Former Botswana President said about 40 per cent of Africa's wealth was held outside the continent by Africans and this wealth could be of enormous value to Africa when kept at home.

He said other social challenges on the continent were decrease in life expectancy of 41 years in Africa as against 78 years in Europe, increase in HIV/AIDS and malaria killing 1.8 million children each year and costing Africa 12 billion dollars.

Sir Quett said the continent was also being affected by political challenges such as accountability and transparency, improving public sector management, delivery of public services, removing bottlenecks to private enterprise and building a credible and responsible media. He said a new lease of hope for Africa was appropriate leadership coupled with the abundant available resources to turn the continent around.

"The Continent can be turned around into an enviable model of social and economic development," the Former Botswana President added. He noted that Africa naturally relied on state leadership to overcome the challenges in her political, economic and social fields, and called on African leaders to consciously and conscientiously play their central role of guiding and facilitating the crucial process of making economies of their nations viable.

Sir Quett said African countries had the big challenge of reversing repressive governments which had plagued many African countries for the past 20 years.

He said poor governance had affected Africa and plunged the economies downwards while civil wars had disintegrated societies. In reference to a study by the Economic Commission for Africa on "Progress towards Governance in Africa", Sir Quett said Africa had made positive moves towards democratic transitions, political inclusiveness transparency, accountability and prudent economic management within the past few years.

"Most pleasing is the discovery of the emerging commitment to channel greater portion of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) into social services," he added.

Sir Quett urged African leaders to pay attention to the challenges to build stable and capable states on the continent. 18 Oct. 06