Former President John Dramani Mahama has delivered a lecture on ‘Beyond Politics: An economic narrative for West Africa’ at the 7th Anniversary of the Realnews Magazine in Lagos, Nigeria on Tuesday.
The former leader of Ghana in his address underscored the need for Africa to explore and discuss the lecture topic even further because we need to aggressively position our economies for growth in other to provide more employment avenues for our growing populations.
”To do this, we must change our existing economic models and paradigms. Africa with its urbanizing population must look more to developing its service and digital economies faster. This sector of the economy, if nurtured, is prone to fast growth and can provide employment for millions of young Africans coming out of school,” he noted.
Mr. Mahama further faulted oil-rich Nigeria for its closure of Seme-Krake, Igolo and Idiroko borders to other West African countries.
According to Mahama, Nigeria must focus on strengthening its institutions mandated to check smuggling instead of punishing the sub-region.
“Nigeria must invest in strengthening its institutions and systems that are responsible for the importation of illegal or prohibited goods,” he charged.
Source: Rashid Obodai Provencal|rainbowradioonline.com
