Mahama: African Leaders Must Own Their Economic Destiny

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Parent Category: Africa and The World

Category: DateLines

Created on Monday, 07 April 2014 00:00

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Mahama: African Leaders Must Own Their Economic Destiny

President John Dramani Mahama has made a passionate appeal to African leaders to strive to restructure their economies as a way of taking their economic destinies into their own hands.

According to him, Africa’s economy is more of a colonial legacy and that needs to change so they meet the needs of its growing populace whilst supporting entrepreneurs.

The President made the appeal when he spoke as a guest speaker at the London School of Economics' Africa Summit in London.

The summit under the theme: "Emerging Trends in African Entrepreneurship" brought together various African business leaders to deliberate on the way forward for the continent and opportunities for entrepreneurship.

In his speech, President Mahama called for a radical restructuring of African economies whilst encouraging policies that promote and supports entrepreneurship on the continent.

“The Challenges that now face African entrepreneurs are actually vestiges’ of our colonialism, and the only way these challenges could be surmounted is if government work in partnership with the private sector to break out of these patterns and continue to create new paradigms,” he indicated.

According to him, the African entrepreneur has come of age and there is the need for state support to ensure they contribute meaningfully to the economy.

Reflecting on the struggles for independence and its impact on the economy, President Mahama indicated that Africa cannot claim to be liberated if its economy remains largely that of a colonial legacy, and as an impediment to the growth of entrepreneurs.

“For Africa to be fully liberated, it must be self-sufficient, our countries must be able to play a leading role in their own development; our countries must be able to take their economic destinies in their own hands," he noted.

President Mahama bemoaned the attitude of treating African entrepreneurs with suspicion, and warned that the phenomenon should not be encouraged.

He, however, urged various governments to put in place deliberate policies aimed at promoting and supporting entrepreneurs in all fields to engineer a level of growth in Africa.

The summit was attended by a host of business leaders including; Jim Ovia, founder of Zenith Bank Group, Herman Chinery- Hesse, founder of SoftTribe, Tutu Agyare founder and Managing Director of Nubuke Investment LLP, Zain Latif, founder of TLG capital.

Source: citifmonline.com