By NAKUBIANA MUMBUNA –

FORMER prime minister of Mozambique Luisa Dias Diogo has charged that Africa will continue to lag behind if leaders on the continent exclude women from development processes.
Ms Diogo said political leaders in Africa should be smart and ensure that the inclusion of women in the development process was must.
Ms Diogo who is also a former finance minister is accredited for leading her country to economic recovery after the war in Mozambique.
She has also been ranked by Forbes Magazine as one of the most powerful women in the world.
She noted that there was little political will to include women in the development process in Africa, a situation that had led to underdevelopment of the continent.
In her address at a Gala Dinner for the 3rd African Women’s Economic Summit in Lusaka, Ms Diogo said “the greediness, exclusion and lack of unity that sustained the colonisation of the continent must not repeat itself”.
She said African’s economic potential was located in three dimensions which include land, natural resources, women and men of the continent including the youth, children and the financial capital that results from smart use of resources.
The dinner was attended by Nelson Mandela’s widow, Gracia Machel, former South Africa First Lady Zaneli Mbeki, Bank of Zambia Deputy Governor  for Administration Dr Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula, Gender Minister Inonge Wina and  UNDP country director Viola Morgan.
Earlier, Standard Chartered chief executive officer Andrew Okai said the onus was on the current generation to focus on the economic empowerment of women.
The Summit under the Theme” African Women Realising Africa’s Economic Potential” ended yesterday.