The former President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, has said that African leaders should stop relying on charities and aid from Western countries, rather unite together to find lasting solutions to its challenges and problems.
He made this known on Thursday while addressing guests at the launch of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida‘s (IBB) autobiography ‘A Journey of Service’ in Abuja.
Akufo-Addo further called on African leaders to unite in addressing health pandemics and infrastructural deficits in the continent.
His words: “I do not think I need to go into the details of the daily updates and the casualties around the world, and the projections about how the streets of African cities will be littered with dead bodies. But I would remind all of us that the lessons, both immediate and long-term, that emerged from the COVID-19 crisis were harsh.
“The first was what he had always known, but often lodging to thinking could be different, which is that there is no such thing as charity in international relations. Nobody is going to give vaccines until their own needs have been fully satisfied. African countries, therefore, need to cooperate with each other and not count on aid from the international community.
“That is why Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, Ghana, and others have taken on the responsibility of manufacturing their own vaccines. The second was to admit the urgency of the infrastructure deficit in our countries, especially in the health sector, as was exposed by the pandemic.”
