African problems can best be solved by Africans – Mutharika

 

Malawi President Peter Mutharika has urged Africa’s political and administrative leaders to put university institutions at the forefront of their leadership if the continent is to fully grasp a shift towards a new economically independent bloc.

Mutharika said this during his acceptance speech at his conferment of the Degree of Doctor of honor from Addis Ababa University.

Mutharika highlighted the importance of the university population to any country’s aim to drive its development agenda, saying that the African continent needed to create leading minds that would mold a new Africa.

He challenged the graduates to rewrite the continent’s destiny in the 21st century.

“Make a difference out there! Ethiopia is looking for your direction. Africa needs progressive minds. Our collective project is to attain more economic autonomy and end poverty of our people in the decades to come. Every African must be made to realise that African problems can best be solved by Africans,” Muthakira said.

Mutharika also advised the students on how they could translate their academic excellence into tangible development in both micro and macro levels.

“The rest of the world can support us, and they do graciously support us as a common family of humankind. But it is our duty to save our African situation. The African university must be the first to lead us in this thinking. The first university in the world came from Africa and the African university can save Africa,” he said.