Peller: Leaders With Entrepreneurial Skills Can End Africa’s Economic Stagnation, Poor Leadership

• Obasanjo, Akinwumi to join 200 Nigerian entrepreneurs in Ghana Conference

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja 

Former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Shina Peller, has said the African continent would have achieved economic greatness if it was led by leaders who possessed entrepreneurial skills and qualities.

The member of the 8th House of the National Assembly stated this in Abuja yesterday while addressing journalists on the African Leadership Conference scheduled for May 17th and 18th, 2024, in Accra, Ghana.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President, Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, would participate in the conference aimed at tackling the continent’s leadership challenges

The conference, which is co-sponsored by the GOTNI Leadership Centre, according to Peller, has as its  theme: ‘Transformational Leadership, the Panacea for Africa’s Rising’.

The  ex-federal lawmaker noted that Africa is rich in human and natural resources, but lamented that  a dearth of effective leadership has led to its growth stagnation.

He therefore said it would take leaders with entrepreneurial skills and leadership qualities to save the continent from its current social, economic and political stagnation.

He said,  “From the outset, we stand united in the belief that Africa was not destined to fail,” adding that “there is a  nexus between entrepreneurship and leadership.”
“Entrepreneurship entails taking responsibility, and intrapreneurship is an act of leadership. 

“The solutions to Africa’s challenges rest in the hands of visionary leaders and entrepreneurs,” Peller stated. 

He said the conference in Ghana would be a rallying point for Africans on the continent and in diaspora to come together and forge a new path for Africa. 

“We must look within and acknowledge that the solutions to our problems must come from within. 

“Our leaders must grasp the importance of cultivating a new generation of leaders in Africa—leaders who will take active responsibility for improving their communities,” the former lawmaker declared,” he added. 

The Chief Operation Officer of GOTNI Leadership Centre, Sam Hart, said in a massive mobilisation effort, approximately 200 Chief Executive Officers from Nigeria and 300 from across Africa would converge on Ghana to participate in the transformative event.

He said, “Our goal is to inspire a new generation of leaders for Africa, bridge the gap between Africans at home and abroad, and establish a new leadership culture that fosters socioeconomic development across the continent.” 

The CEO, GOTNI Leadership Centre, Linus Okorie, said “the deficit of leadership capital in Africa has been a longstanding challenge, contributing to the continent’s stagnation, and underdevelopment.”

He said, “This conference seeks to address  pivotal challenges surrounding leadership development and management that have long hindered the progress of the African continent. 

He noted that with Africa’s burgeoning youth population and vast resources, the imperative to reposition the continent for sustainable growth has never been more pressing.

“As the most populous black nation in the world and Africa’s giant, Nigeria recognises the urgency to collaborate with other African countries in charting a new course for a transformed Africa,” he said