Africa must take ownership of its development – Prof Opoku Agyemang 

Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, has called on African countries to take greater ownership of their development and narratives to determine the continent’s future.

She said Africa must move beyond implementing solutions designed elsewhere and instead build the capacity, institutions and expertise needed to address its own challenges.

The Vice President made the call in a social media post on Tuesday, August 25, after participating in the inaugural Africa Mindset Reset Forum organised by the African School of Governance in Kigali, Rwanda.

“Pan-Africanism was founded on the conviction that Africans could work together to determine their own future. That conviction must remain at the heart of our development today,” the Vice President said.

She participated in a high-level panel alongside Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn Boshe and former South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Prof Opoku-Agyemang said understanding Africa’s history is important to shaping its development trajectory and strengthening the continent’s ability to determine its own future.

She also encouraged the African School of Governance to invest in research grounded in African realities and produce solutions that respond directly to the continent’s development needs.

According to her, education must equip young Africans with the knowledge, skills and confidence to shape the future rather than merely prepare them to participate in it.

The discussions also focused on bottlenecks and bureaucracy that continue to slow development across the continent.

The Vice stressed the need for policies and institutions to translate into tangible improvements in the lives of citizens, particularly people who have had fewer opportunities.

“We must increasingly ask where Africa ought to be, what it will take to get there, and what each of us is prepared to do to make that future possible,” she said.

The Africa Mindset Reset Forum brought together African leaders and distinguished guests to discuss the continent’s history, present trajectory and prospects for the future.