Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has said although there are some difficulties bedevilling Africa, the continent has a bright future.

According to him, there is the political will among African leaders to deal with the challenges that have saddled their respective countries.

Delivering a lecture on Wednesday, 15 November, Dr Chambas said: “The road ahead is difficult – marred by potholes; however, there is increased awareness and a great deal of political will to tackle these challenges.

“Some noteworthy initiatives are ongoing in many countries at regional and continental levels. While Africa is clearly on the right path, there is still some way to go.

“I see five main areas where African countries need to achieve greater progress in order to consolidate their stride on the theme of Africa rising.

“The first is maintaining microeconomic stability and accelerating structural reforms. As the continent enters the second phase of our adjustment. the emphasis must be to maintain economic stability and to reinforce the implementation of structural policies that will make the economies more flexible, encourage diversification through value addition to raw materials and industrialisation, to reduce their vulnerability…”