Far from being hopeless, Africa is full of hope and potential, maybe more so than any other continent. The challenge is to ensure that its potential is utilised.
Mo IbrahimRead
Remarkably, governments are beginning to embrace the idea that nothing enhances democracy more than giving voice and information to everybody in the country. Why not open their books if they have nothing to hide?
Interpretation
The quote highlights the importance of transparency in democracy by empowering citizens with information.
Mo Ibrahim's quote emphasizes the critical role of transparency in democratic governance. He suggests that when governments share information and allow citizens to voice their opinions, it strengthens democracy. The notion of opening government records is presented as a natural step for leaders who have nothing to conceal, ultimately fostering trust and accountability within the political system.
In practice
In a speech about government accountability, this quote could encourage leaders to embrace transparency.
Far from being hopeless, Africa is full of hope and potential, maybe more so than any other continent. The challenge is to ensure that its potential is utilised.
In the final analysis, finding a way to do clean business and not to pay bribes actually improves your bottom line.
A narrative that branded Africa as little more than an economic, political and social basket case was not likely to provide the investment needed to drive development.
Experience shows that when political governance and economic management diverge, overall development becomes unsustainable.
There is a crisis of leadership and governance in Africa, and we must face it.
If economic progress is not translated into better quality of life and respect for citizens' rights, we will witness more Tahrir Squares in Africa.
Young men's minds are always changeable, but when an old man is concerned in a matter, he looks both before and after.
A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.
In the search for reality, energy creates its own discipline. But mere discipline, without full comprehension of all this, has no meaning, it is a most destructive thing.
I apply the Abraham Lincoln test for moral casuistry: 'If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.' Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture.
My heart, to put it more simply, got nostalgic for the present. Always a bad sign.
The philosopher is Nature's pilot. And there you have our difference: to be in hell is to drift: to be in heaven is to steer.
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