African states urged to back one of their own for top UN tourism post

Alain St. Ange, former tourism minister of Seychelles

African countries have been urged to rally behind one of their own for the Secretary General’s position of United Nation World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

Former Seychelles Tourism Minister Alain Ange said an African would be better suited to the post considering that the continent has a meagre five per cent representation to the global tourism movement despite being one of the key players of the tourism sector.

Speaking during a regional tourism expo in Kampala last weekend, Ange, who has offered his candidature for the post, said if elected, his first priority would be to decentralise the organisation by having branch offices in as many countries around the world as possible.

He joins three other candidates from Zimbabwe, Georgia and Brazil. “All UN bodies have offices in as many countries as possible.

Why do we have the secretariat to UNWTO sitting only in Madrid, Spain without field offices?

This has made it difficult for many countries, especially in Africa to be misrepresented when it comes to decision-making,” he told delegates at the meeting.