Accra,Nov.04,GNA- Former President John Agyekum Kufuor, on Wednesday expressed hope that peace will return to Cote d'Ivoire after their landmark elections last Sunday.

"I interacted with all the major players, President Laurent Gbagbo, and opposition leaders Alassane Ouattara and Henri Konan Bedie. They all assured me of their readiness to accept the results and I have no reason to doubt them as l believe they will keep to their promise", former President Kufuor said.

He was speaking on arrival in Accra today after observing the landmark elections in Cote d'Ivoire as co-chair with the Carter Foundation, A statement signed by Mr Frank Agyekum, Spokesman of the Former President said.

Former President Kufuor said the whole world was watching Cote d'Ivoire which he described as an 'important player' in West Africa and was optimistic that the elections will open a new chapter of stability that will lead that country to recapture its glory days again.

Fourteen candidates contested the elections which had been postponed six times in the past and is the first democratic elections to be held in Cote d'Ivoire for about 10 years.

Former President Kufuor who had been away from home about a week, first visited Nigeria where he addressed the Business Forum as part of an exhibition to showcase African indigenous products and services by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) at Abuja.

In his speech on: "Trade as a Tool for Regional Integration in Africa" former President Kufuor called for a rededication by African leaders to the ideals of NEPAD which is aimed at forging a common front for the continent in their dealings with the rest of the world.

"NEPAD was an announcement to the world that Africa was able to solve its own problems. This we can only do if we integrated our economies in order to optimize our benefits to enable us to stand up to global competition," he said and urged African leaders to show greater dedication to realizing its goals.

Whiles in Nigeria, former President Kufuor was Guest Speaker at the launch of the Tony Elumelu Foundation in Lagos, where he called for the grooming of the next generation of African leaders in all spheres of life as a way of overcoming leadership challenges confronting the continent.

Former President Kufuor said: "Unless the African society takes pains to nurture and groom future leaders, like is done in other parts of the world, we will continue to have leadership problems. "Political leaders must go through a systematic nurturing that will expose them to different aspects of public administration so that they can learn the ropes before getting to the top level of governance.

"'We also need to groom leaders at the private sector level. It is when there are synergies between public-private-partnership that the much needed development in Africa can be achieved", he told business executives, bankers and government officials at the gathering.

The Foundation, promoted by Tony Elumelu, former Chief Executive Officer of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, one of Nigeria's leading financial institutions, is aimed at building business leadership and entrepreneurship across Africa through mentoring, advocacy, and the offer of fellowships and grants to young and brilliant Africans.

Also in Lagos, former President Kufuor attended the book launch of 'Baba's story: Nigeria is 50' a pictorial depiction for children of Nigeria's journey to independence as told by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obassanjo.

The book was written by Ghanaian author Abyna-Ansaa Adjei who also wrote Ghana @50 to commemorate Ghana's Golden Jubilee, the statement concluded.