MEDIATRACNET
African leaders must stop begging the developed world for aid and allow the continent to assume its rightful position in the global economy, the Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo said on Tuesday.
Akufo-Addo spoke at the ongoing three-day U.S.-African Leaders Summit in Washington DC just as the U.S. government pledged to commit more than $55billion to health, climate adaptation and other development support to Africa
The Ghanaian President said countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and others do not need to look up to any country for aid, as they all have what it takes, in terms of natural, material and human resources, to make the continent great.
He said it was high time African leaders stopped begging the developed world and concentrate on spending African money on the development of the continent. When Africa does the right thing, he argued, they would not need to ask for respect from anyone as it would naturally come.
“Africans are more resilient outside the continent than inside. We must bear in mind that to the outside world, nothing like Nigeria, Ghana or Kenya. We are simply Africans. Our destiny as a people depends on each other,” he said.
The Ghanian leader urged those in positions of leadership in Africa to take responsibility of making the continent attractive to its people, by providing quality education and skills that run modern economy.
“We must work together to change Africa’s narrative which is characterized by disease, hunger, poverty and illegal migration. No matter where you come from, as long as you are black, you are African. We must make Africa conducive for progress and prosperity,” he said.
He insisted the time to make change was now as the leaders of the African continent have run out of excuses.
“We have the manpower. We should have the political will to do the right thing. It is time to make Africa work.
“If we stop begging and spend Africa’s money inside the continent, Africa will not need to ask for respect from anyone. We will get the respect we deserve. If we make it prosperous as it should be, respect will follow,” Akufo-Addo added.
Meanwhile, the President of Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum, at a session on Peace, Security and Governance spoke on the collaboration with Nigeria on combating the scourge of Boko Haram in the West Africa region.
“To fight against this cross-border phenomenon, Niger and its neighbouring countries, in particular Nigeria and Chad, set up a mixed force which makes it possible to combat these armed groups,’’ he said.
The phenomenon, which was also linked to pastoralism and climate change, he said, has a considerable impact on the development of terrorism in the region.
Because most of the young people who join terrorist groups come from pastoral backgrounds, the Nigerien leaders said the scarcity of resources forces them to look for other means of subsistence, and the easiest remained the integration of armed groups.’
In his remarks, the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said the summit would look at the importance of the diaspora to the past, present and future of African nations and the United States.
Blinken said the U.S, was committed to ensuring that young people continued to bring their talents and hard work to benefit people across the continent and his country.
“We’ve got a number of programmes that are doing just that; programmes like the Young African Leaders Initiative and through our economic development programmes, like the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs.
“Since its inception in 2019, YALI has provided more than 5,400 women throughout Africa with the training and the networks that they need to start and to scale small businesses.”
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is among 50 African leaders attending the 3-day Summit, which will end on Thursday.
In a related development, White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan announced on the sidelines of the summit that the U.S. government would commit more than $55 billion to support health and climate adaptation in Africa.
Sullivan said the U.S. government was determined to ensure its investment in the African continent compared favourably to other countries in the world.
He said the money to be channeled to “a wide range of sectors to tackle the core challenges of our time,” would be distributed in close partnership with the U.S, Congress.
The bulk of the money, he explained, would be spent on health and climate adaptation, noting that the Biden-Harris administration would be providing nearly $20 billion in health programmes in the Africa region.
“That includes $11.5 billion dollars to address HIV/AIDS; more than $2 billion dollars to combat malaria; more than $2 billion dollars in support of family planning and reproductive health as well as maternal and child health; and more than $2 billion dollars to address the health, humanitarian, and economic impacts of COVID-19.
“The administration also plans to ask Congress for $4 billion for healthcare workers in Africa, investing $1.33 billion annually from 2022 to 2024.”
Since January 2021, he said the administration invested and planned to provide at least $1.1 billion to support African-led efforts to support conservation, climate adaptation, and energy transitions.
These funds, he said, included U.S. International Development Finance Corporation investments into Malawi’s Golomoti JCM Solar Corporation, and a Climate Action Infrastructure Facility.
Sullivan who said President Joe Biden would host a dinner on Wednesday for about 50 African leaders, announced U.S. support for the African Union to join the Group of 20 (G20) major economies.
He said Biden would also push for a permanent member from the African continent on the United Nations Security Council.
Since taking office, Biden has made trips to visit U.S. allies in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, but has yet to visit Africa.
The Summit would provide the forum for the U.S. administration to take a most comprehensive look at the complexities of the problems facing the continent.
Part of Biden’s diplomatic efforts so far since assuming office have focused on promoting Western democracies as a counterweight to China, although U.S. officials have insisted the Africa summit was not all about discussing Beijing’s influence in Africa.
U.S. State Department said Biden plans to appoint Ambassador Johnnie Carson as the special representative for implementing ideas discussed at the summit.
Also, Sullivan said the United States would not be “imposing conditionality” at the Africa summit to support the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, disclosed that her agency was preparing to sign a memorandum of understanding with the African Continental Free Trade Area countries to explore work on the next phases of the U.S.-African trade relationship.
Over 300 U.S. and African companies would meet with heads of different delegations to discuss investments in critical sectors of the African economy. Sullivan said.
(NAN)
