UK-Africa Summit: Ghana's President pledges to partner London Stock Exchange for investments, lures Boris Johnson to quote an Akan proverb

According to him, Africa and for that matter, Ghana is well-endowed with natural resources and therefore, the oil-rich West African nation is fully prepared to partner the London Stock Exchange in investment on the continent.

President Akufo-Addo said this when he took his turn to speak at the ongoing UK-Africa Investment Summit being held in London, in the United Kingdom, on Monday, January 20, 2019.

He said, “There are things that we need to do on our side in Africa. We can do better in terms of our own domestic resource mobilisation, move away from raw materials exports and insists on processing and adding value to our own resources.”

“But in the process, the Stock exchange in London can be a pivot in the new relationship with the continent of Africa. Countries like my own sees itself in the noble opportunities of helping to mobilise all of these capital around the world for investment in Africa’s infrastructure," he added.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson received a loud applause Monday when he quoted a popular Akan proverb to drive home his point that the UK remains the choice of trade for Africa.

Addressing African heads of states at the UK-Africa Summit 2020, the Prime Minister sought to woo African leaders for post-Brexit trade with Africa.

According to him, Britain should be the "investment partner of choice" for Africa.

Quoting the popular Akan saying: ‘Nsa tia nyinaa nnyԑ pԑ’ to wit ‘all fingers are not the same’, the UK Prime Minister said, “The UK boasts a breadth and depth of expertise that simply cannot be matched by any other nation.”

“In the words of an old Akan proverb that I picked up in Ghana, ‘all fingers are not the same’. There’s wisdom in these Akan proverbs; all fingers are not the same and all countries are not the same,” he stated to the admiration of the gathered.

He (Prime Minister Boris Johnson ) and President Akufo-Addo are expected to sign a £40million agreement this week, which will see the construction of a new terminal as part of the upgrade of the Kumasi Airport.