Nobody will develop Africa for Africans; they must do it themselves – President Akufo-Addo

In line with the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda, President Akufo-Addo said African leaders must take charge of their destinies.

“There is no such ‘Father Christmas’. There is just us. Once that mentality is changed, then our relations with other people will become much more structured,” he said at the Africa Diaspora Summit last Thursday.

Ghana’s President also said Africa’s relationship with Europe had been heavily lopsided over the years.

“That relationship has enriched Europe but has not enriched Africa. We need to change that dynamic, and we can only do it by taking the correct measures for our future. That is where my focus is… It cannot be right that the continent that has allegedly the wealthiest resources of the world is also the home of the poorest people on the globe. That disconnect is not a good one, and we need to work to change that.”

Again emphasising the education of Africa’s youth, President Akufo-Addo said “once we find the means to do the educating of this population and giving it skills, then we are putting Africa on the path of very, very strong economic growth. We can replicate what has been done in Asia if, like them, we maintain the discipline and correct analysis of what we need to do to move our continent forward.”

But President Akufo-Addo reiterated that Africa was not turning its back on the world in pursuit of self-reliance.

“We live on the same planet. We need the association and partnership with countries like France, the networks they have developed, their savoir-faire in all those areas that we can profit and benefit from. It is for us to define that relationship that we want with the rest of the world. We should not be caught up in a language or narrative that says that we are appendages to other people’s thinking and policies. That will not help us,” the President said.