President Akufo-Addo has emphasized the need for Africans to actively contribute to making Africa a hub for investment, progress, and prosperity.
He asserted that it is time for Africans and those of African descent to shape their own narrative, emphasizing the importance of self-definition rather than relying on external perceptions.
Speaking after addressing the Full Circle Africa Economic Conference in Accra on Thursday, December 28, President Akufo-Addo expressed a commitment to changing the prevailing narrative of temporary poverty and underdevelopment in Africa.
He stressed the need for Africans to determine their collective fate, free from the influence of external factors.
Together, he added “We must help make Africa the place for investment, progress and prosperity, and not from where our youth flee in the hope of accessing the mirage of a better life in Europe or the Americas.
“We want to derive maximum dividends from our relations with the African Diaspora in mutually beneficial co-operation, and as partners for shared growth and development.”
Referring to the famous quote by Jamaican Reggae artist Peter Tosh, President Akufo-Addo reiterated the significance of embracing African identity and recognizing that the destiny of all black people, regardless of their location, is intricately linked to Africa.
In addition, the President acknowledged the challenge of African youth seeking perceived opportunities in Europe or America, referring to it as the ‘mirage’ of a better life.
He urged collective efforts to transform Africa into a continent of investment, progress, and prosperity, discouraging the trend of African youth leaving in search of a supposedly better life abroad.
President Akufo-Addo concluded by emphasizing the importance of maximizing the benefits of collaboration with the African Diaspora, envisioning a partnership for shared growth and development.
“We, thus cannot allow temporary poverty and under-development to be the narrative of Africa, a continent which is so blessed with natural and human resources. We cannot allow our collective fate to be decided by exogenous shocks thousands and thousands of miles away.
“I can never get away from the oft-cited quote of that famous Jamaican Reggae artist, Peter Tosh, because it very much sums up who we are, and what our aspirations should be. He said, ‘don’t care where you come from, as long as you’re a black man, you’re an African.’ Let us all remember that the destiny of all black people, no matter where they are in the world, is bound up with Africa,” Mr Akufo-Addo wrote.