Reflections from a Pan-African citizen

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OPINION

By Amb. Rosa Malango

African countries continue to lag in their drive towards peace, security, and knowledge-based economies. In today's world, the competitiveness of nations depends on their ability to create, use, and transfer knowledge, not only to deliver essential services, but also to generate wealth, create jobs, and safeguard peace and stability. Yet Africa is missing in the global research and innovation economy, a gap that has slowed recovery from COVID-19, deepened social vulnerabilities, and hindered our ability to leverage emerging technologies.

Uganda, like much of Africa, stands at a crossroads. Our challenges are tied to our history, heritage, and potential. Too often, our responses fall short because we do not research our own problems or manage our talent strategically. The universal war against poverty is particularly dramatic here: our nations are struggling to balance values-driven growth, science and technology, and good governance with the demands of citizenship.

In the new global trade order, countries are racing to build the technologies that power smart products, drive service delivery, and anchor their knowledge systems. Artificial intelligence is transforming transport, health, agriculture, and sports. If we do not act, Africa risks being left behind.

What Africa must do

To seize its future, Africa, including Uganda, must:

• Build homegrown models for industrialisation, food systems, sports, health, tourism, mineral development, energy, and peace, rooted in our history and
• Generate and use African research to promote sustainable industries, climate-smart infrastructure, and values-based education and
• Develop citizen engagement campaigns that celebrate African history, promote the Obuntubulamu value system, and highlight African innovation.

Prosperity will come from robust regional growth, intentional national strategies, and environments where citizens embrace their responsibilities in governance and economic transformation. The intersection of culture, science, and finance is critical. No society can import values wholesale and expect transformation. Japan and South Korea modernised by building on their own culture. Africa, the cradle of civilisation, must similarly draw from Ubuntu, our shared humaneness and Obuntubulamu in Uganda, to guide transformation in households, communities, and nations.

The newly launched Uganda's Fourth National Development Plan aligns with the UN's 2030 Agenda and the African Union's Agenda 2063. The moment is ripe for a national campaign on citizenship informed by Pan-African values and anchored in our Constitution. To achieve prosperity and peace, we must each embody the core Obuntubulamu values:

• Obumu - unity
• Obwerufu - transparency
• Obwesimbu - integrity
• Okufaayo - empathy

Grounding our education, businesses, and governance in these values will ensure our initiatives, investments, and innovations uplift current and future generations.

What it means to be African

The questions are urgent: What does it mean to be African? Which values guide us? What legacy will we leave? We cannot sabotage small businesses, disregard homegrown innovations, or undermine institutions and still expect progress.

On a personal note, I remain deeply grateful for the warm welcome extended to me and my family when we relocated from New York to Kampala two years ago. Over nearly 30 years of international service, I have always sought to elevate indigenous values, youth and women's solutions, and advocacy on global platforms. That journey inspired me to return home, investing my UN pension to co-found the ELITE Soccer Academy with Mr Michael Kyaku and Mrs Marion Etiang-Busingye, and to establish TAKC, a hub for women-led businesses and international investments.

Through these platforms, I have supported Ugandan youth, women, and small businesses, while also facilitating foreign direct investment and technology transfer into Uganda in line with the President's call to join the fight against poverty. My focus has been on catalytic technologies, alternative financing, and smart infrastructure. Over the next five years, I plan to mobilise even more investments in agribusiness, education, AI, manufacturing, fashion, cosmetics, sports, and heritage tourism.

If Africans abroad who have served the world for decades do not return to build our start-up ecosystems, share global trade insights, and create jobs, then we forfeit the moral authority to complain about neocolonialism. My hope is that my contribution inspires others to return, advise, invest, and empower Africa's growing private sector.

Call to Action

Africa can create a new body of knowledge to shift our narrative from division to inclusion, from poverty to prosperity. We must:

• Train children for the jobs of the
• Welcome partners who transfer technology and financing while respecting our heritage.
• Foster citizen participation that contributes to growth and good
• Build work ethics that overcome bottlenecks and accelerate
• Create safe spaces where citizens learn about government programs, business successes, and science-based
• Recognise and support young innovators and
• Promote Uganda and Africa as a Pan-African brand of
• Move beyond policies on paper to concrete implementation that boosts production, human capital, and climate-smart

Above all, we must place Obuntubulamu values at the centre of everything we do-as entrepreneurs, public servants, innovators, teachers, or leaders. Institutional hazards such as delaying communication, ignoring decisions, or undermining colleagues are not just inefficiencies; they block opportunities that could uplift entire communities.

Conclusion

The path forward for Africa is clear. By embedding unity, transparency, integrity, and empathy into our daily work and lives, we can transform our societies, strengthen our economies, and secure a better future for our children. The time for excuses has passed. The time to act, as Pan-African citizens, is now.

The writer is a former senior United Nations official, founder of TAKC, co-founder of ELITE Soccer Academy, patron of NICE-UG, and Special Presidential Envoy on Tourism and Trade designate.