Emulate Ghana’s interoperability success to facilitate trade - President Akufo-Addo to African leaders
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on African leaders to muster the political will and follow the example of Ghana by introducing digital interoperability to facilitate trade and transfer of cash among families and businesses.
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He said such an initiative by their respective countries would also ensure economic integration on the continent for accelerated growth.
“There are items in this compact which I believe can quickly be implemented if we are able to mobilise the needed political will, such as achieving interoperability across Africa, I promise, with the support of my colleagues, to make interoperability a reality across member states,” the President assured.
President Akufo-Addo made the call at the closing session of the second annual high level Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) series, organised by the African Prosperity Network (APN) at the Peduase Presidential Retreat in the Eastern, Region.
It is an annual platform dedicated to Africa's business, political and social sector leaders to discuss and take actionable decisions on intra-African trade as a catalyst for economic prosperity.
Dubbed: the Kwahu Summit, the three-day event was attended by more than 700 leading Africans and produced an outcome document known as the Compact, which will be presented and adopted at the 37th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly.
Responsibility
President Akufo-Addo, who sat through the panel discussions, said Ghana, as the host of the AfCFTA Secretariat, deemed it an honour and a responsibility to provide a platform annually for the private and public sectors to join hands with other strategic institutions to work together on how to deliver prosperity to Africans through economic integration.
He described outcomes of the summit as significant, especially the articulation of some specific, tangible and priced projects that should be acted upon.
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President Akufo-Addo mentioned the creation of a railway to link countries in Africa, a Grand Inga Dam, which was estimated at around $100 billion, and a dedicated airline with long term limited guarantees to link Africa with the Caribbean as some of the suggestions at the summit.
The dam consists of a series of seven proposed hydroelectric power stations at the site of the Inga Falls, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The project, which is intended to have a total installed capacity of over 42,000 MW, is designed to contribute to the electricity supply for DRC and the entire continent.
He said globally, Africans are estimated to be around 300 million with a collective Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $2 trillion.
President Akufo-Addo gave an assurance that although his term as President would end in January 6, 2025, he would remain a patron of the initiative and expressed confidence that the strategic partnership between Ghana and key organisations such as AfCFTA, APN, UNDP and others would grow stronger to push the integration agenda forward.
Concerns
The Executive Chairman of APN, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, expressed worry that within Europe, there were no telephone roaming charges, but said in Africa, people paid for using the roaming services from one country to the other and also wondered why telcos and banks in the continent interoperability for ordinary Africans and businesses could not have to transfer money from one country to another.
Mr Otchere-Darko also said the speed with which African leaders signed up to AfCFTA was an indication of their commitment and said it was through economic integration that Africa would realise prosperity.
He, however, said “AfCFTA will not be delivered by politicians, they have given the road map, it is for business leaders in Africa to execute it to build the Africa we want”.