Vice President, Dr. Mahmudu Bawumia has proposed three areas for African political and business leaders to prioritize in their quest to transform Africa into an economic powerhouse on the global stage.
Delivering the keynote address at the first edition of the African Prosperity Dialogue (APD) currently underway at the Safari Valley Resort in the Eastern Region, the Vice President advised African business and political leaders to make smart investments a matter of priority. in critical infrastructure across the continent; unleash the continent’s manufacturing potential on the world; while mobilizing finance and investments to bridge the infrastructure gap currently plaguing the continent.
According to the Vice President, the narrative of Africa in most parts of the world is one of poverty, conflict, mismanagement, corruption and underdevelopment, insisting that “the time has come for Africa and Africans to define our own narrative”: “We cannot allow poverty and underdevelopment to be the destiny of Africa, a continent blessed with every natural resource imaginable.” – Oil, gas, minerals and sunlight.
Infrastructure investment
“As a continent, we need to produce and trade our way out of poverty and underdevelopment, and we cannot do that without investing in smart infrastructure across the continent,” opined the Vice President.
He noted that while the past decades have seen some positive investments, additional resources are needed to finance “arteries for trade” that include physical infrastructure such as roads, rail and energy.
Digital infrastructure such as data centers to facilitate digital transformation and financial infrastructure that enables the integration of financial markets are prerequisites for African transformation.
He reiterated that these investments are critical to delivering the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Unleashing African productive capacity
Besides, Dr. Bawumia stressed the need for Africans, particularly its business and political leaders, to unleash their productive capacities across the continent.
“We must create platforms for knowledge brokerage and access to information on key products and services on the continent to plug the 445 million small businesses across the continent into the value chains of these mega industries,” he said.
“We need to develop Africa as a manufacturing sector that facilitates trade in value-added products,” the Vice President said. “In my view, these are critical to leapfrogging Africa’s industrialization and enormous socio-economic benefits.”
Mobilizing finance and investments
In his third proposal on transforming Africa, the Vice President urged African business and political leaders to focus on mobilizing finance and investments.
He pointed out that Africa needs between US$130 billion and US$170 billion annually to bridge its infrastructure gap and generate sustainable growth of 5% or more annually.
This, in his opinion, presents “tremendous opportunities” for private sector investment.
“Attracting private sector participation through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is essential for the delivery of various infrastructure projects,” he said, adding that there is a need for innovative policies to mobilize and allocate resources more efficiently. Coordination between all African stakeholders and international partners.
Concluding his remarks, the Vice President charged participants at the forum to consolidate Africa’s success so far: “We are really on the cusp of realizing the Africa we want”.
“As key stakeholders, we must consolidate the successes to date and, with a sense of urgency, develop the signature solutions needed to deepen intra-Africa trade and promote the effective investments needed to bring prosperity to the continent and its people. And we must do this with fearless determination.”
About APD
The Africa Prosperity Dialogue Series is an initiative of the Africa Prosperity Network (APN), which brings together the continent’s political and business leaders, as well as other thought leaders, to brainstorm on the all-important African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). A single-market plan for the continent while creating an annual forum for the continent’s leaders to advance the collaborative implementation of the AfCFTA agreement.
The event is scheduled to run between Thursday, January 26 to Saturday, January 28, 2023.
Source: dailyguidenetwork.com
| Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility, legal or otherwise, for the accuracy of their content. Please report any inappropriate content to us and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
Featured video
