President Kikwete set the ball rolling, when he declared that the continent's growth could be enhanced through public partnership with the local and international private sectors.
Addressing the opening session of the three-day World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa at the posh Mlimani City Conference Centre on the city's outskirts, President Kikwete added that Africa was in need of more foreign direct investment (FDI). This is the first time the conference is being held in East Africa.
"Our capacity is limited. Therefore, we need to partner with both national and international private sectors to unleash this potential," he told the more than 900 foreign and local delegates attending the conference, whose theme is: 'Rethinking Africa's Growth Strategy'.
He added: "It's not a question of not putting in place investment policies alone. Africa badly needs FDIs.
Unfortunately, Africa gets the least share of FDI, with East Africa's share standing at 0.35 per cent."
Mr Kikwete said the support of the international community would be crucial in building capacity for the continent to forge ahead.
For its part, Africa, he said, would have to formulate political and economic policies aimed at making sure the continent's resources were exploited to the full.
"Africa remains poor because these resources are underexploited. There is a need to unlock this potential for the benefit of Africans," he said.
However, President Kikwete said, there were a number of bottlenecks that hampered Africa's growth, citing the lack of adequate skills and technology.
Among the barriers Africa had to grapple with included the developed countries' subsidies on agriculture. This, he said, was one of the factors that had crippled agricultural development on the continent.
But the founder and executive chairman of the WEF, Prof Klaus Schwab, said Africa was on its way to achieving positive change.
The Chief Executive Officer of a leading South African firm, Old Mutual, Mr Kuseni Douglas Dlamini, said Africa's growth potential could be unleashed by investing more in the training of young people and women.
"If we educate our young people and women, they stand better chance of unlocking the continent's potential," said the top youthful African business executive.
Mr Dlamini called for the building of the capacity of institutions and creation of a conducive environment for investors.
The UN Undersecretary General and Executive Director for UN-Habitat, Prof Anna Tibaijuka, who hails from Tanzania, posed: "Why have we (Africans) not been able to unlock this potential?"
She said the physical and socio-economic infrastructure that could have helped to boost the continental development was not in place.
Prof Tibaijuka said the women, who constitute the majority of the African population, at 51 per cent, did not have access to the means of production.
She said the best way to invest in young people was to provide them with proper education and skills.
"Africa has lost time...A level playing field does not necessarily exist in Africa," she said, also acknowledging that African leaders required international support to solve the continental's problems.
The chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HCL Infosystems India, Mr Ajai Chowdhry, said human capital was important for growth.
CEO Pat Davis of SASOL, another leading South African company, also stressed the need to empower individual Africans through education and skills development.
A participant observed that one of the factors inhibiting the harnessing of Africa's potential "is that our leaders are not doing the best they can".
Another participant claimed that Africans were weak at negotiating international deals beneficial to the continent.
Ms Katherine Tweedie, the director and head of Africa for the WEF, said the forum would set the roadmap to Africa's future.
However, Ms Tweedie cautioned that the success would depend on the commitment of the leaders attending the forum.
Africa, a continent rich in land, natural resources and water, with a favourable climate and over a billion people and immense intellectual capital, still had barriers to its social and economic development.
The 950 business and political leaders, representing 85 countries, will discuss the critical elements limiting Africa's growth.
Discussions will focus on the key drivers behind the continent's promising growth, including its emerging middle class, the strengthening of capital markets, growing South-South partnerships and global demand for the continent's abundant resources.
Source: http://allafrica.com
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