My keynote address at the Ishmael Yamson & Associates Business Roundtable on the theme โunlocking the next quarter century: harnessing Africaโs digital infrastructure, trade & integration, energy & industry, governance, and societal development for global relevanceโ
1. Thank you very much for the warm welcome. Let me congratulate Ishmael Yamson & Associates for twelve years of consistency and intellectual leadership on this important platform.
2. I am pleased to join this distinguished gathering at a moment of profound consequence for Ghana, Africa, and for the future of emerging economies within a rapidly changing global order.
3. Over the past twenty-five years, Africa has not stood still. Across the continent, we have expanded infrastructure, deepened digital connectivity, strengthened institutions, educated more of our people, and created one of the most dynamic consumer and enterprise markets in the world.
4. Yet, we must also confront the reality that this progress has not sufficiently translated into transformation.
5. Africa still stands at a defining historical crossroad.
6. For centuries, we supplied the world with raw materials, labour, and strategic resources. However, we captured only a fraction of the value created from them.
7. Today, the pattern risks repeating itself in a new form. Our raw materials still leave. Increasingly, our data leaves.
8. The tragedy of Africaโs economic history, therefore, is not the absence of resources. It has been the persistent export of value and the import of dependency.
9. But this history is not our destiny. We must change the narrative.
10. The next quarter of a century presents Africa with perhaps its greatest opportunity since political independence.
11. The defining question before this generation for the next quarter of a century is this: will Africa finally become a production and value addition force within the world economy?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
12. Africa is entering this new era with extraordinary strategic advantages.
13. Our continent is home to more than 1.4 billion people, with one of the youngest populations in the world. The African Continental Free Trade Area creates a combined market exceeding US$3.4 trillion, making it the largest free trade area in the world.
14. And yet intra-African trade still accounts for only about 15 percent of Africaโs total trade, compared to nearly 70 percent within Europe and over 50 percent in Asia.
15. That statistic alone should provoke urgency reflections. Why should it take longer and cost more to move goods from one African border to another than across oceans?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
16. The next phase of Africaโs rise will be driven by infrastructure.
i. Commercial Agriculture infrastructure;
ii. Energy infrastructure;
iii. Transport and logistics infrastructure;
iv. Digital infrastructure;
v. financial infrastructure; and
vi. Human capital infrastructure.
17. Without these, integration will remain a dream.
18. Today, the global economy is increasingly digital. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, fintech, digital payments, e-commerce, and data governance are reshaping competitiveness.
19. The nations that control data infrastructure and digital ecosystems will shape the future global economy.
20. Africa cannot afford to become just a consumer in the digital age. We must ask ourselves:
i. Who owns Africaโs digital rails?
ii. Who stores Africaโs data?
iii. Who finances Africaโs fibre backbone?
iv. Who controls Africaโs payment systems?
21. These questions transcend technology. They are economic transformation and sovereignty questions.
22. Africa requires a continental digital strategy that supports:
i. regional data centres and cloud infrastructure;
ii. Affordable broadband expansion;
iii. Cross-border digital payments systems;
iv. Cybersecurity and digital trust;
v. AI readiness; and
vi. Digital skills for millions of young Africans