From John Akubo (Abuja)
In a thought-provoking address at the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) Summit, former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, warned that Africa must be among the global economic leaders or remain sidelined.
Also, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State charged Africa on robust regional collaboration and trade facilitation, insisting that Africa’s economic renaissance lies in extensive trade, not charity.
Speaking on the topic, ‘Africa’s Role in the New Global Economy’, Obi challenged African governments and institutions to rethink their present trajectory, warning that “the continent is dangerously underperforming” despite being rich in human and natural resources.
“Africa cannot continue to be a continent of promise without delivery,” Obi firmly said. “We must shift from potential to productivity. ”
With over 1.5 billion people, most of them young and full of energy, Africa remains the most youthful continent on earth. Yet it reportedly contributes just about two per cent to global trade and about three per cent to global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a reality Obi described as unacceptable in today’s interconnected world.
The former governor of Anambra State painted a contrast between Africa and Asia, noting that while Asia used its youthful population and developmental state model to rise economically, Africa largely remained stuck, copying institutions without cultivating innovation.
“Africa’s GDP per capita stands at $1,900. Asia’s is nearly five times that,” he revealed. “We must ask ourselves: why?”
Citing looming changes in the global economy, especially the policy disruptions caused by United States President Donald Trump’s return to influence, Obi said Africa cannot afford to be reactive anymore.
Obi stressed that agriculture could be Africa’s launchpad to prosperity, highlighting its projected growth from $280 billion to over $1 trillion by 2030.
But to get there, he said, Africa must shift focus from exporting raw materials to building capacity for value-added production.
The audience at the London summit responded with thunderous applause, many acknowledging the speech as a wake-up call Africa desperately needed.
MBAH, who insisted that “Africa has all it takes” to build its table rather than wait to be invited to the table, also tasked the continent with fully exploiting the power of intra-Africa trade and opportunities inherent in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He gave the charge yesterday while delivering the closing remarks of the session, ‘The Africa Opportunity: Regional Collaboration and Trade Facilitation’, on the second and final day of the 2025 Commonwealth Enterprises and Investment Summit in London.
At the session, which focused on how Africa could leverage the potential in its 1.3 billion population to boost trade and investment, the governor noted that such integration and trade facilitation had never been more compelling than now in the face of harsh global and existential headwinds facing the continent.
He said: “Such large population, plus Africa’s combined GDP of $3.4 trillion and the fact that the continent has 65 per cent of the world’s uncultivated arable land means Africa should be building the table – and not waiting to be invited to the table.
“But one of the challenges lies in translating Africa’s remarkable potential into real economic development that benefits the continent’s people. One of the solutions lies in fully exploiting the power of trade, particularly intra-Africa trade. It would seem this was what AfCFTA came to fill.”
Mbah had, during the first day of the summit, on Monday, led the State Governors Roundtable session where he marketed investment opportunities in Enugu to global leaders and investors.
