It was a moment of truth telling and reality check at the just-concluded 5th Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa when former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan insisted that African countries must stop begging, cap-in-hand, for assistance from foreigners to address challenges confronting the continent.

Annan, who gave the keynote address at this year’s forum in Addis Ababa, said the solutions to the problems the continent is facing must come from within. He added, however, that the continent must build up its ability to do so, including in financing its institutions.

“We cannot always pass a hat around and insist we want to be sovereign, we want to be independent. We should lead and get others to support us, that support will be much more forthcoming when they see how serious and committed we are.” ~ Kofi Annan

The former UN scribe also noted that the African Union (AU) has struggled to get members to pay their dues, which will allow the organisation to run its operations and programmes efficiently, a recurrent theme addressed by leaders at the forum. He further observed that such budgetary concerns were constraining the work of the continent in strengthening stability and required creative ways of resourcing.

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