Africa must industrialise – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that African countries would have to change the structure of their economies, from raw material dependent economies to industrialised, value-added economies if they are to fully finance the implementation of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to President Akufo-Addo, several countries on the continent, including Ghana, are taking steps towards converting the 17 SDGs into concrete outcomes for their peoples, with the conviction that they cannot expect others to do it for them.

With the implementation of the SDGs agenda set to cost between 3.5 trillion to 5.0 trillion dollars per year, and with the news that aid to Africa will be cut significantly by the current US administration, President Akufo-Addo stressed that “Africa must be efficient and effective not only in mobilising resources, but also looking beyond the benevolence of others to finance implementation of the SDGs agenda.

He noted that “We are a continent reliant on foreign aid, despite economic growth in parts of Africa significantly outpacing the global average. Truth be told, the full implementation of the SDGs in Africa cannot be done with a mindset of dependence.”

President Akufo-Addo made this known on Monday, September 18, 2017, when he delivered the keynote address at the 5th International Conference on Sustainable Development, at a packed auditorium of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York.

The President stated that the first priority of African countries, to this end, must be to change the structures of the economies on the continent, which are dependent largely on the production and export of raw materials, adding that it is this reliance on raw material exports that feeds our dependence on foreign aid, and subjects us to the politics of the West.

Citing the example of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, which produce nearly 60% of the world’s cocoa and yet earned, in total, in 2015, only $5.75 billion out of the $100 billion chocolate market, the President stressed that such scenarios can no longer continue.

“We certainly cannot finance the vision of building sustainable development on the continent with such scenarios. There can be no future prosperity for our peoples, in the short, medium or long term, if we continue to maintain economic structures that are dependent on the production and export of raw materials,” he said.

The President continued, “We must add value to our resources, and we must industrialise. Unless we do so, we cannot finance on our own the full implementation of the SDGs. The agenda surely has to be an Africa Beyond Aid.”