The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, has called on African countries to stop «begging» from the West and stressed that in this way they will achieve «the respect» they deserve, on the sidelines of the U.S.-Africa summit in Washington.
«If we stop begging and spend African money within the continent, Africa will not have to ask for respect from anyone, we will get the respect we deserve. If we achieve prosperity, respect will follow,» he said.
He called for unity among the leaders of African countries in order to move the continent forward and said that «Africans are more resilient outside the continent than inside it». «We must keep in mind that for the outside world, there is no Nigeria, Ghana or Kenya, we are Africans. Our destiny as a people depends on each one of us,» he argued.
Akufo-Addo has called for «working to change the African narrative, characterized by a concentration of disease, hunger, poverty and illegal migration.» «We must make Africa a place of investment, progress and prosperity,» he said.
«We know what needs to be done. It is time to do it. We have run out of excuses,» the leader said during his speech at the closing of the Africa and Diaspora Young Leaders Plenary, before adding that «it is time to make Africa work.»
The speech came just hours after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced an agreement in principle for a financial rescue program for Ghana worth about 3 billion dollars (about 2,815 million euros) with the aim of «restoring macroeconomic stability» and «debt sustainability» of the African country.
Ghana has suffered during the last months the collapse of the local currency, the cedi, which lost about half of its value during 2022, amid an inflation that has reached 40 percent and has caused a serious economic crisis, deepened by the coronavirus pandemic and the increase in the prices of commodities and energy due to the war in Ukraine.
