General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Pastor Mensa Otabil is urging Africa to take advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to develop the continent, despite its impact on nations and economies around the world.

He said Africa must allow the Covid-19 pandemic to have a positive impact on the continent rather than allowing it to further collapse economies of countries.

“I believe that this is a time for a generation of builders and planters to emerge out of Ghana, out of Nigeria, out of Zimbabwe, out of Kenya, out of South Africa, out of Cape town to Cairo, form Senegal to Somalia; Across this continent, may God raise up planters and builders because this the time to do what God has planted in your heart.

“In this season that we are in, we have seen the rooting out and the pulling down but I believe we are also about to see the building and the planting. It’s not just about chaos but also about reconstruction and I believe that this season that we are living in is pulling down systems that have been very powerful in the world but it’s also planting and building new systems and I have every confidence that for us in Africa, it is our time to plant and to build," he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic has indeed had a great impact on lives and economies around the world. It has impacted economies around the world negatively and has been the reason for the loss of many lives around the globe.

The Pastor likened the world's current situation to the days of the French revolution which he described as a time of great contrast. According to the Pastor, there were many positive things to boast of at that time, however, there were much negative occurrences and events as well.

"Life has patterns that it follows. After darkness, there is light. After destruction, there is construction and I believe that we have entered a season of construction. So today I’m going to focus on two people who had to rebuild something that had been destroyed.  

“These are moments where massive changes are taking place all over the world. This is a time of abundant knowledge but this is also a time of narrow-minded ignorance. It’s a season of Global wealth as well as a season of global economic collapse. We are proud of our scientific advancement yet humbled by a tiny virus.

"A year of great hope, and a year of great fear and despair. We have looked through telescopes looking for life outer space yet we are to relate the life in our neighbor. That is the world of 2020; great contrast just like the years Charles Dickens wrote about the French Revolution," he said.

He, however, has urged that like Jeremiah and Zerubabbel, who took advantage of a crisis situation in Jerusalem to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem [as in the case of Jeremiah] and a temple [in the case of Zerubbable], Africa must take advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to develop the continent.

“In the midst of all this, God has called us to plant and build. Our mission is like the mission of Jeremiah as recorded in Jeremiah 1: 10.

"Jeremiah was a very young man who was raised by God and God encouraged him to go the people of Israel with a word that didn’t seem appropriate for the people at that time because people were very complacent, yet God set him over the nations to root out and pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.

“Don’t be disturbed by the chaos in other nations for us it is time to plant and to build. So when God says to Jeremiah, you are going to plant and build, he also says you are to establish and also prosper. You are going to introduce a season of planting and prosperity.

"Nehemiah was called to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after they had been raised to the ground. And the second person we will look at is the man called Zerubabbel and he was called to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem after the temple had been torn.

"These two people were planters and builders and these two people were planting and building after disaster. So like these two, I believe God id raising up a generation of planters and builders, individuals who are anointed specially by God to build out of what has broken down; to plant and to build confidence instead of doubt.

"To plant and to build beauty out of ashes, to plant and build glory out of shame. To plant and to build a people who have been down and I believe you are one of those people," he added.