The President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has described the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), headquartered in Ghana, as critical to unlocking the continent's economic growth, urging African countries to move beyond talking about their potential and start turning it into reality.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the BBC, Dangote said Africa's development must be driven by Africans themselves.

"We Africans must make sure that the prospects that we have, the opportunities that we have... You know, we've attended so many conferences and people say, yes, the potential, potential. But you have to put that potential into reality. You have to," he said.

He stressed that Africa could not depend on outsiders to transform its economies.

"But the only way that we are going to do that is by us Africans to drive it. Nobody, and I repeat, nobody will come and drive it for us," the businessman added.

Dangote noted his hope that African countries would fully embrace the African Continental Free Trade Area, arguing that it would accelerate growth across the continent.

"And I pray very soon we'll be able to sign on this African Continental Free Trade Agreement. Once we are able to sign the AfCFTA, the growth will be there. It will happen," he said.

He cautioned against delaying efforts to make Africa economically self-reliant.

"You know, we don't wait until 2050 for us to start saying that. No, no, we need to be self-sufficient," he said.

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Dangote also challenged African countries to become more productive, saying the continent could not achieve prosperity without creating industries and jobs.

"You cannot imagine you have one quarter of the world's population and you are not producing anything. If you are not productive, how do you create prosperity?"

He said creating employment opportunities should be a priority, especially given Africa's youthful population.

"We have to create jobs. We have a very young population. This population that we have, the younger ones, they are very, very hungry. They are very aggressive."

According to him, political and business leaders have a responsibility to provide opportunities that will improve livelihoods across the continent.

"So you need to make sure that you calm them by providing a livelihood for them, providing opportunities for them. And that's our job. We that are already there, we need to make sure we rally the rest of the people to support us so that we can actually provide all these things for the continent," Dangote said.