NEPAD CEO Dr Ibrahim Mayaki has cautioned of a silent revolution where youth in Africa were taking charge. Dr Mayaki said that young people in the current social technologically advanced system of things were keen on seeing quick and tangible development results.

“It is obvious that 90% of the current leaders we have in Africa today will not be around in ten years’ time. This means that we need to improve on our governance structures as an enabler of positive transformation,” said the NEPAD chief, who is also interim CEO of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism

Speaking to journalists in New York, Dr Mayaki said that the continent has made positive gains in the last ten years. He said that 40 out of 54 nations had held regular elections; press freedom was more widespread and governance and fiscal and policy had improved.

He said that to further accelerate this growth, African countries will need to modernise their agriculture, industrialize more, add value to their vast natural resources, innovate and create more employment opportunities especially for the youth. 

Dr Mayaki said that regional integration and cooperation was fundamental

 "None of our national problems have an optimal national solution. The optimal solutions were at the regional level. Talking about Ebola, for example, the link is very clear: the Ebola challenge we're facing cannot be tackled on a national basis, it can only be tackled on a regional basis," he said.