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Africa this week converged in Zimbabwe to discuss, among other things, the acceleration of Africa’s modernisation and industrialisation.

Delegates to the 6th edition of Transform Africa Summit which ended yesterday in Victoria Falls and delegates to the second edition of Connect Africa Symposium held at the ongoing Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo on Thursday, were all agreed that there is a need to leapfrog the modernisation and industrialisation of Africa by adopting science, technology and innovation.

The Transform Africa Summit was held under the themes: “Innovate-Connect-Transform while that of Connect Africa Symposium was held under the theme: Transformative Innovation, Global Competitiveness”. The themes for the two meetings emphasised the need for the African Continent to leverage on science, technology and innovation to fast-track its modernisation and industrialisation.

The African Continent despite being endowed with natural resources such as minerals, oil, good agricultural land, gas reserves and other such resources, still lags behind in terms of development.

The decades of colonial occupation as foreign nations from the West scrambled for Africa’s resources are mainly to blame for the continent’s underdevelopment hence the calls for Africa to quickly adapt to the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Africa’s resources were plundered to develop Western countries’ industries and what came out from the two engagement meetings this week is that there is a need to stop further exploitation of Africa’s resources by Western countries.

Speaking at the Victoria Falls Summit, President Mnangagwa said the modernisation and industrialisation of Africa urgently requires the adoption of science, technology and innovation. He said partnerships are essential if Africa is to leap forward and build capabilities in science and technology.

“We must seamlessly integrate the frontier of science and technology with the unique needs and strategic social-economic development goals of the continent and our respective nations,” said President Mnangagwa. He said institutions of higher learning and technopreneurs should also be supported to design relevant software solutions that speak to the intricacies of African economies and communities.

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga

Addressing delegates to the Bulawayo Symposium, Vice-President Dr Constantino Chiwenga said growing attempts by bigger powers to fight over African resources which they want to control and dictate partnerships for their selfish benefit, must be resisted.

“We know our interests and as such we do not need to be lectured through hypocrisy,” said VP Chiwenga.
What is clear from the outcomes of the two engagement meetings is that African countries need to unite and work together to accelerate the continent’s development for the benefit of their citizens.

Africa can no longer afford to export raw materials to benefit Western countries but should instead produce finished products in order to derive maximum benefits from its natural resources.

We want at this juncture to implore African countries to engage more often to strengthen their integration and collaboration in order to accelerate their modernisation and industrialisation.