DURBAN – South African Businessman Vusi Thembekwayo has said Africa needs to take the responsibility to frame its story of natural resource and cultural heritage endowment, and tell it to the world.
Speaking during the Africa’s Travel Indaba in Durban on Monday on the Business Opportunities Networking sessions Day (BONDay), Thembekwayo said Africa would only test her limitations when she starts to tell her story, for brand Africa to penetrate the world.
He decried that the reason the African richness in resources and cultural heritage is being told by other sections in the world was that Africans do not take it upon themselves to travel the continent and learn and experience the greatness of Africa.
Thembekwayo, who shared his travel experiences to various African countries and the amazing experiences and lessons he learnt in those countries said no one can tell the story of Africa’s greatness better than Africans themselves.
“This place we call home, needs us to take the responsibility to frame the story of who we are,” he said.
The Indaba must be the perfect opportunity and calling the current generation to take the next step of Africa’s liberation – to take out the thinking by Africans that they are not good enough like the rest of the world.
Meanwhile South’s deputy minister of tourism Fish Mahlalela has called on Africans to continue to use tourism as powerful tool for building bridges between people and cultures.
“Let us immense ourselves in new languages, severe the flowers of the best cuisines and stick by the captivating narratives that emerge from the corners of our continent and build the future for all through travel, he urged.
Mahlalela said investment in the tourism sector remains critical, for the continued sustenance of livelihoods in the continent.
It was for this reason he said that the department of tourism in South Africa, will spend more that P300 million in the next financial year developing on enterprise and transforming the tourism sector.
“We understand the importance of SMEs and their role in economy’s growth and development. Therefore, we will focus on improving our focus on improving our focus towards these businesses,” Mahlalela said.
He said while the rapid recovery of the tourism sector was being witnessed, they remained optimistic that they will soon surpass the pre Covid levels.
“The government is also focusing on developing tourism infrastructure to attract more visitors. These include the development of new tourist attractions, such as the planned tower in Durban, which when completed will be the tallest in the continent,” he revealed.
