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The Institute of Diplomatic Practice and Development Policies (IDPDP) has identified gaps in Africa’s development strategies and is therefore organising series of public lecture to highlight the effects and proffer solutions to speed up growth.

     The maiden lecture which is on the topic: “Post 2015 development Agenda and missing links in Africa’s development strategies,” is predicted to provoke public discourse on a national scale and find a common Ghanaian position on Africa’s sustainable agenda.

     Commenting on the relevance of the topic ahead of the homily, Mr James Victor Gbeho, the Chairman of the Governing Board of IDPDP told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that, the lecture would build up consensus to chart Africa’s development course.

     He said the Institute has noticed through research that there were certain missing links in Africa’s development strategies that were hampering the continent’s efforts to realise its objectives and improve living conditions of the people.

     “We want to put out some of the results of our own research at the institute and see what people think about it and to whatever extent it will improve understanding and development…,” he said.

     He expressed the hope that the results of the research would contribute and help Ghana and Africa as a whole to do better when it came to forging a new sustainable development policy for the continent.

     “It’s been six decades since countries in Africa became independent, we’ve made several attempts at development, yes we’ve made progress,…but at the same time poverty has deepened and many of our people on the continent still languish below the poverty line,” he said.

     Mr Gbeho said it was very imperative for Africa to present a common position on the appropriate growth strategy as the Millennium Development Goals was itching up to a close by the end of this year that might have to be replaced by “post 2015 sustainable development agenda.”

     Established in March, 2011, the IDPDP is an applied policy research institute as well as a growing centre for capacity development of African officials who represent their governments regional organizations, civil society organizations as well as private sector establishments at multilateral meetings.

     The Institute of Diplomatic Practice and Development Policies is committed to enhancing the ability of African practitioners to effectively engage their foreign counterparts in all spheres of diplomatic practice, especially through negotiations.

     The Institute is dedicated to constantly update the diplomatic practitioners’ knowledge on topical international economic and political developments with a view to enabling them appreciate the impact of such developments on Africa.

     Since its inception, the institute has trained 147 diplomats and other government officials, who represent their countries or organizations at international meetings.