President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has called on the African diaspora to get involve in changing the African narrative.
He said the continent is best known outside by a concentration on disease, hunger, poverty and illegal mass migration.
He made the appeal at the Young African and diasporan Leaders’ Summit, held on the sidelines of the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit, in Washington D.C, on Tuesday, November 13 2022.
President Akufo-Addo noted, “the urgent responsibility we face is to make our countries and our continent attractive for our people to see them as places of opportunities.”
According to President of Ghana, history is replete with several instances of the positive impact of diasporan communities on the growth and development of countries, through increased trade activities, rising investments, and the transfer of skills and knowledge.
He cited China saying, with an émigré population of sixty million, the Chinese Diaspora is said to be the 25th largest country in the world, who, according to the Nikkei Asian Review, own assets worth $2.5 trillion.
“When foreign companies, in the late 1970s, reduced their investments in China, it was the Chinese Diaspora that shored up the economy.
“According to the Washington D.C. based Migration Policy Institute (MPI), half of the foreign direct investment, i.e. $26 billion, that transformed China into a manufacturing powerhouse in the 1990s, originated from the Chinese Diaspora,” he explained.
That, Nana Addo stressed was the rationale of Ghana’s initiative of “Beyond the Return”, which, he explained, is building on the considerable success of the “Year of Return”, and the renewed enthusiasm around building Africa together.
He, further urged young African and Diasporan leaders to help change the African narrative, which has been characterised largely by a concentration on disease, hunger, poverty and illegal mass migration.
“Let us all remember that the destiny of all black people, no matter where they are in the world, is bound up with Africa. We should never forget that famous admonition of the celebrated Jamaican reggae star, Peter Tosh, when he said: ‘Don’t care where you come from. As long as you’re a black man, you’re an African’”, President Akufo-Addo emphasized.
He added, “We must help make Africa the place for investment, progress and prosperity, and not from where our youth flee in the hope of accessing the mirage of a better life in Europe, Asia or the Americas.
“That is what “Beyond the Return” seeks to do, so we can derive maximum dividends from our relations with the Diasporas in mutually beneficial co-operation, and as partners for shared growth and development.”
“We have done enough talking, and, dare I say, we have had enough conferences and workshops. We know what we need to do. It is time just to do it. We have run out of excuses for the state of our continent. We have the manpower, we should have the political will, it is time to make Africa work.”
