The China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) on Wednesday October 16, 2013 held the fifth edition of the African Programme Lecture to analyze the challenges of Africa and share knowledge towards developing the continent.

The lecture, which was on the theme: “African Development and the Sahel challenge” was aimed at building a pioneering programme that will contribute to the economic transformation of Africa, particularly in the emerging economies.

Speaking on the topic for this year’s programme, former prime minister of Italy, Prof. Romano Prodi, who is also a former European Commission president, said, Africa needs a continental policy to be able to harness its growth with the investment that it is benefiting from the rest of the world.

He said "Africa as the pilot of change in the world. Africa must develop a sustainable policy framework that would go a long way to enhancing the continent’s fortunes."

"In the last few years, Africa in spite of the prevailing economic challenges, achieved an impressive growth rate compared to the rest of the world.

"Africa was able to achieve a 4.8% average growth in 2013, which is spread across the continent and is expected to improve in the next year," he said.

According to Prof. Prodi, Africa, in 2012, recorded US$50 billion as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows mainly from emerging economies.

He said the FDI’s is estimated to grow three times the current figure in a few years, which according to him "is very huge".

He explained that China, arguably Africa's biggest investor, is making gains because it has adopted a continental strategy, which includes the export of funds, human resource and expertise to Africa; enhancing its penetration in Africa, and yielding good results in various sectors of its investment.

“If you want to have an African growth; a renaissance, you need to have a full economic integration. Without a continental policy, the 54 markets in Africa are too small for any kind of investment,” Prof. Prodi said.

He bemoaned Africa’s concentration on the services sector, without building its industry, saying it was a drawback for the continent.

“Africa must concentrate on building its industries because that is the only area that can give back to a country...Infrastructural development will guarantee an increase in productivity and growth for the continent.”

Prof. Pedro Nueno, President of CEIBS, in an earlier address, said the China Europe International Business School was established as a non-profit joint venture under an agreement between the Chinese government and the European Union in 1994.

He said the focus of the school is to produce world class managers with practical business knowledge and problem solving skills desired in the world of today.

Prof. Romano Prodi, who is currently the UN Special Envoy to Sahel, said the purpose of Sahel is to address resilience, cross-border threats and inclusive governance for countries in the region through improved capacity building, to try to start a policy of corporation amongst the five countries in the region, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger and Chad. His mandate as UN special envoy is to support national, regional and international mediation efforts in the sub-region, especially regarding cross-border and transnational issues on behalf of the UN Secretary-General; which will help generate, sustain and coordinate international engagement in support of national efforts of Sahelian countries, to address the multifaceted crises.

Among the dignitaries who attended the lecture are Mr. Hans Doctor, Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Laura Carpini, Italy Ambassador to Ghana, Brazil Ambassador to Ghana, Irene Vida Gala, Claude Maerten, Ambassador Head of Delegation of the EU to Ghana, Philip Sowah, Managing Director of Airtel Ghana and a host of Chinese diplomats.