Africa needs to increase its production capacity to realise the dream of trading its way out of poverty, Ghanaian Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has said.
Mr Bawumia made the comments in his keynote address at the opening ceremony of a three-day high-level policy dialogue on achieving prosperity in Africa in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
The African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, initiative presents the continent with a unique opportunity to increase its capacity in manufacturing and industrialisation, he said.
He added that Africa needed the appropriate infrastructure to achieve that goal.
“As a continent, we need to produce and trade our way out of poverty and underdevelopment, and we cannot do that without investing in smart infrastructure across the continent,’’ Mr Bawumia said.
He said the last decades had seen some positive investments, but there was still a need for additional resources to finance both physical and digital infrastructure.
According to him, the continent needs at least 170 billion U.S. dollars annually to invest in critical infrastructure to bridge the infrastructure deficit.
Mr Bawumia said these investments would be critical to delivering the success of the AfCFTA and creating the needed economic power for the youth through job creation.
And that it would help in reducing poverty and empowering African women through trade and entrepreneurship.
The three-day “Africa Prosperity Dialogue’’ brought together business leaders and officials in charge of trade, economic, and other business-related sectors from across Africa.
Xinhua/NAN
