The African Union (AU) permanent representative to the AU-Southern Africa Regional Office (AU-SARO) David Claude Pierre says prudent diplomacy can contribute to the development of African countries.

The envoy was speaking during a public lecture organised by the Department of Diplomacy and International Relations of the University of Hebron at Golden Peacock Hotel in Lilongwe last week.

“The biggest challenge I have noted about African countries is having unqualified people as ambassadors, this cannot bring development. We need people with clear understanding of diplomacy,” Pierre said.

He also emphasised on inclusion of women in development activities, saying women possess 50 percent of development, as such, sidelining them is depriving countries 50 percent of development opportunity.

Pierre said African countries should promote women’s education and access to financial services so that they can take part in development at different levels.

University of Hebron chancellor Professor David Boston Kamchacha said the lecture, the first in a series,  was organised to allow diplomacy and international relations students interact with the ambassador and other influential people.

“The AU Ambassador here was deliberately targeted and you have seen how inspiring his lecture was. We will be doing this every month so that our students can marry theory and what happens on the ground,” he said.

MacOnex Daniel Mbewe, a diplomacy and international relations student at the university, said the lecture gave him real insights of the course.

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