President John Agyekum Kufuor, has been named President of the "Alliance for Africa Foundation", a new private sector initiative aimed at mobilising global support for the sustainable development of the African continent.

The Foundation which is being promoted by the City of Milan was outdoored on Thursday in Paris at a meeting with African Ambassadors. Its main priority is capacity building with special emphasis on vocational training, health, agriculture and public services at large.

A seed capital of Ten (10) million Euros has been made available to kick-start the project whose headquarters will be jointly hosted by Accra and Milan.

In his acceptance speech, President Kufuor said the concept of the "Alliance for Africa" is consistent with the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and that he has accepted to lead the Foundation and to work for it because no effort should be spared to galvanise global support for Africa's development.

He said human resource development is a necessary condition if Africa is to realize her full potential, adding, "We may be sitting on gold, silver or oil but it will have to take the appropriate human resource through capacity building to make these natural resources profitable to us."

Signed:
Andrew Awuni
Press Secretary To The President &
Presidential Spokesman