Vice President Yemi , has inaugurated the International Advisory Board (IAB) of Oxford University’s African Studies Centre, under the School of Global and Area Studies (OSGA)

In prestigious Oxford University, United Kingdom.

According to a press release  from the  VP’s office , the members of the inaugurated board are eminent leaders from across the world including several African countries like Nigeria and South Africa. They include Mr Tito Mboweni, an international advisor of Goldman Sachs, and former Chairman of the South African Reserve Bank, who will chair the board; Madame Monica Geingos, First Lady of Namibia, lawyer and entrepreneur; Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, former UN Under-Secretary for Political Affairs, one-time Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former Nigeria’s External Affairs Minister; and Dr. Charlotte Scott, former First Lady of Zambia and development specialist.
 
Others are Mr. Gareth Ackerman, Chairman of Pick’n’Pay, South Africa; Mr. Alex Duncan, Director and Consultant Economist, The Policy Practice, Brighton, United Kingdom; Mr. Ivor Agyeman-Duah – Economist and author, Accra, Ghana; Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, Nigeria; and Ms. Linda Mabhena-Olagunju, founder and Managing Director, DLO Energy Group (Pty) Ltd, South Africa.
 
The Vice President was received by the Head, Oxford School of Global & Area Studies, Tim Powers; and the Director of the African Studies Centre, Prof. Wale Adebanwi.

Delivering lecture on “The Challenges of Human Development in 21stCentury Africa” Osibanjo explained that Human capital development must be a priority of public policy of governments across Africa, to effectively tackle multidimensional poverty and improve long-term development on the continent.

During the lecture, Prof. Osinbajo highlighted ongoing investments, efforts and plans of the Nigerian government and the progress it has made in improving the country’s Human Capital Development indices and investment climate, as well as the widespread impact of the National Social Investment Programmes (N-SIP).
 
Despite the enormous challenges of Human Capital Development in Africa, the Vice President called on African governments to unlock the “opportunities to significantly move the needle in the journey to vastly improved standards of existence for our people.”
 
“All over Africa, the political will to better the lot of our restive populations is evident, innovative ideas are also in abundance; if we keep our focus, especially on good governance, the next two decades may truly be the African decades,” he said.
 
The Vice President said that while non-governmental and philanthropic organizations help to bridge development gaps through various interventions, governments have a major moral duty to ensure human capital development is its major priority as tackling poverty will boost growth and development across different sectors.
 
He added that “investing in our people” was a major pillar of the Buhari administration’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
 
“Governments are also best placed to deploy the public policy tools required to bring about synergy between growth objectives and social needs,” he said, while calling on African governments to prioritize investments in its people.