African leaders to converge in Ghana to have Presidential Dialogue on Africa Beyond Aid

The dialogue is expected to take place in Accra, Ghana in October this year.

The dialogue which is convened by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the Ghana government is aimed at bringing together more than 200 participants, including the senior UNDP leadership in Africa, private sector actors and captains of industry.

It will as well provide intellectual and analytical insights into the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), raise visibility and also create momentum on Africa's vision for future prosperity while fostering new partnerships and the creation of allies for Africa's transformational agenda.

The Advisor at the Regional Bureau for Africa at the UNDP, New York, Mr Joseph U. Oji, announced programme when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, in her office in Accra on Friday, October 18, 2019.

The dialogue, christened “Africa’s money for Africa’s development: A future beyond aid”, leaders will discuss how Africa can develop using resources pooled from within, without over-relying on donor assistance, as the case has been for the past 60 to 70 years.

The choice of Ghana as the host the event, according to the UNDP official, is because the government blazed the trail by developing a home-grown economy dubbed: Ghana Beyond Aid, to lift the people out of poverty, with little dependence on development aid.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s initiative has since received the blessing of many development partners and the international community, finding expression in the development policy agenda of the UNDP.

Mr Oji, hence, said there was rising demand across Africa for a new breed of transformational leaders, which he said began with a distinct change in mindset and a renewed commitment to do things differently.

He added that with Africa’s endowed natural resources and human capital, it had the power to be self-sufficient if the resources were complemented with transformational leaders.

“The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, has taken up the mantle of leadership in that direction by proclaiming and promoting the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda,” he said.