ADDIS ABABA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), Vera Songwe, on Friday urged Africans to dream a "Mandela Moment" towards peace and development of the continent.
Songwe, in her statement issued on Friday entitled "A Mandela Moment," commended some of the developments witnessed in the African continent, and further called on to strive towards working on the positive achievements towards a greater success.
"We get a transition in The Gambia, we get peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea, we get stability in Liberia, growth in Senegal, euphoria in Ethiopia and suddenly, so much of the impossible becomes possible, so much of the impossible gets done," the ECA chief said.
Songwe's statement came days after the world commemorated the 100th birthday of Nelson Mandela, fondly known as Madiba.
She also urged Africans to change the long existing Africa's socioeconomic and political narrative towards a better future by following the footsteps of Mandela, who she said realized the improbable to reality.
Mandela, who was born on July 18, 1918 and died on Dec. 5, 2013, was the first democratically-elected president of South Africa and the country's first black head of state.
In recognition of Mandela's lifetime, which serves as an example for his contemporaries and for future generations, the UN General Assembly declared Mandela's birth date, July 18, as the Nelson Mandela International Day.
