Statement upon receipt of an honorary degree from the Addis Ababa University

by K.Y Amoako,
Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
26 July 2003

Your Excellency, the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Your Excellency, The President of Addis Ababa University,
Excellencies,
Members of the Faculty,
Members of the wonderful class of 2003
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am greatly humbled, Mr.Prime Minister, by this conferment on me of the high honor of the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, of the University of Addis Ababa.

It is an honour, which I will treasure and do my best to deserve.

I accept it for the symbolic gesture of encouragement that it is to my own organization - the Economic Commission for Africa - and to all those pan African organizations, which are engaged in the collaborative work of strengthening Africa's capacity to fight the scourge of Poverty.

They say that one does not choose his neighbors. I must rejoice in this aphorism because, left to myself, where would I have managed to package myself into the company of such outstanding and distinguished sons of Africa as Prof. Wole Soyinka, Ambassador Salim Ahmed Salim, Ato Kifle Wodajo, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al-Amudi and Ambassador. Mohammed Sahnoun.

Mr. Prime Minister, more than forty years ago, the vociferous masses of Africa drove their leaders into this very city and, more precisely, into Africa Hall and committed them to fashion out a strategy for the liberation of every inch and centimeter of Africa's soil. So, many years down the lane, no mission has been better fulfilled and today, we can truly proclaim that the task is ended and Africa is free.

Yet Africa is not free. As we sit here, that old enemy of Poverty has reasserted its presence with a vengeance against the background of a deteriorating natural resource base and an adverse global economic environment.

The heroes of the past who strutted Africa Hall have departed, never to return...

So too have the crowds of freedom fighters who urged them to fight on.

But that is not to say we should despair.

We have the tools for our salvation at our disposal. And foremost among these is knowledge. Knowledge is arguably the most precious resource in the world today.

As Africans we cannot afford to be left any further behind in the global knowledge economy.
We simply have to redouble our efforts.

For this, African Universities in the 21st century must be thriving centers of excellence. They must be responsive to the needs of their own communities and the continent as a whole.

Our universities and their centers of excellence must be focused on seeking African answers to African problems.

They must seek to harness and adapt traditional knowledge where possible to the demands of the modern world.

And they should seek to encourage the free exchange of ideas between the network of African scholars on the continent and in the Diaspora.

What I am stressing today is the effective appliance of African brainpower in the interest of African development. In that context, Universities, such as this esteemed one,
must dedicate themselves fully to nurturing the knowledge that will be applied effectively to the battle against poverty.

This is not the first time that the crucial importance of our universities in the salvation of Africa has been underlined. That sentiment has been repeated year in year out, from the very first day the first university was established in Africa. Yet Africa's yearning for its Universities to come to its rescue today is greater than ever before.

Members of the class of 2003

We now have to confront this dilemma head on. And Addis Ababa University can lead the way.

For knowledge is power and only Africa's power can fight Africa's poverty most effectively.

Let me conclude by echoing some words from my own country.

I have been up the hills and down into the valleys, I have met none who is not my friend.

In Addis Ababa University and the wonderful people of Ethiopia I could never have better friends.

Thank you