We must be more self-reliant as a continent – Mahama tells African leaders

Former President John Dramani Mahama has said that there are several opportunities that African leaders can take advantage of to make the continent self-reliant.

He said this while urging the African leaders to work to ensure that the continent is more self-reliant.

Mr Mahama was answering questions in a panel discussion during the 2nd edition of the Afro-heritage Conference and Awards in Lagos, Nigeria, on Saturday April 13.

“I think we must be more self-reliant as a continent, there are many opportunities that we can take advantage of. I was looking at a figure that we will give in our budget statements which is Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“The question we must ask ourselves is, what percentage of that GDP is indigenous? What percentage of that GDP is African? when we mark that percentage which is called the Gross National Product, not Gross Domestic Product, we will be able to see how well our people are doing and what the progress is.”

Mr Mahama also expressed worry about the attitude of African governments targeting businesses owned by their political opponents.

He stated that part of the problem for not having more rich African businesses is that governments turn to target businesses created by their political opponents.

To that end, he has urged the African government not to act in ways that destroy businesses.

The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said “We must not be afraid for our business people to succeed, we must not be afraid to have rich Africans.

“Governments must not come and think that because some other governments created this business, then we must kill it. That’s part of the problem that we have. We must believe in ourselves, in adversity comes opportunities.”

Mr Mahama also made a case for African leaders to take seriously investment in young people to make innovations that will affect the ordinary citizens on the continent.