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ACBF grant of US$800,000 for an initiative involving former African Heads of State

The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has made a grant of US$800,000 to Africa University
for the implementation of a Project of Lectures and Workshops in Peace, Leadership and Development in Africa by
Eminent Persons, dubbed “PEARL.” The PEARL project is expected to create a forum for analysis and debate on
topical issues as they relate to peace building, conflict management, leadership development and socio-economic transformation in Africa. It is aimed at tapping into and utilizing the knowledge of African eminent persons, such as former heads of state, in providing quality academic and professional training and research. The project will be housed in the Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance, (IPLG) at Africa University and will have a fouryear life span. Speaking at the Nov. 30th signing ceremony in Harare, Dr. Soumana Sako, the ACBF’s executive secretary, said as African peoples, we need to design our own workshops, and document our own knowledge as we share lived experiences with our former leaders.
“We need this project to have full participation and ownership by the whole of Africa and we want our own lessons for the
benefit of the whole continent,” said Dr. Soumana Sako, the ACBF’s executive secretary.
Dr. Sako highlighted Malaysia’s success in finding its own solutions to the problems confronting it as a model for Africa.
“We need to help Africa to tap from the experience of Malaysia,” said Sako. “Today, Malaysia is one of the fastest emerging economies and it is proof of what a nation can do for itself when it has the self confidence to build its own capacity.”
Lare Sisay, an executive board member of the ACBF and the UNDP’s deputy resident coordinator, concurred saying that
Africans need to use their own indigenous knowledge and experience, instead of relying so heavily on external sources for
knowledge and expertise.
“There is a wealth of experience, knowledge and best practice indigenous to Africa scattered across the continent with certain eminent persons and we need to put that knowledge into a collective pool for posterity, ” said Sisay.
“By beginning this process, we are inculcating in young people these values which will continue to exist for our future generations,” he added. Professor Rukudzo Murapa, vice chancellor of Africa University, described the project as a unique and innovative approach to the challenges of peace building and development in Africa. He added that in making the grant in support of the project, the ACBF grant had demonstrated confidence in the University and its modest contributions to Africa’s development.
“This project belongs to us all,” said Murapa. “As the project unfolds, we want to see it decentralized to other parts of the
continent.” In September, the University hosted H E Joaquim Chissano, the former Mozambican president and 2007 recipient of the Mo Ibrahim prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Chissano participated in the annual
commemoration of the life and legacy of Dag Hammarskjöld, the former UN secretary General and engaged in discussions with students on a wide range of issues. It is hoped that continuing such interactions, as proposed in the PEARL project, will prove valuable to processes of self examination and development in Africa.