Africa must break the shackles of the mindset of impossibility for possibility – D Bawumia

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has urged Africa to eschew the mindset of impossibility and embrace a mindset of possibility, for the African continent to get to the levels of developed countries.

Addressing participants of Harvard University’s Africa Development Conference in the United States over the weekend, Dr. Bawumia identified the continuous reliance on ineffective systems in Africa as the bane of the continent’s economic growth and development, adding that the status quo remains because the continent has, for many years, not broken the “shackles of impossibility mindsets”.

“The truth is that while African countries are politically free, we still have a mindset that is shackled by the experience of 500 years of slavery and colonialism,” Dr. Bawumia said.

“For the longest time, we have not believed in ourselves. The dominant mindset is one of impossibility.”

Addressing issues stunting the economic growth of the African continent, Dr. Bawumia said the over-reliance on raw materials instead of human capital development, as well as lack of effective systems such as identity system, property addressing system, huge financial exclusion and manual delivery of public services, are some of the major contributory factors to Africa’s stunted progress.

To address these, Dr. Bawumia noted, Africa must embrace the 4th Industrial Revolution to address these basic system challenges, and more importantly, break the impossibility mindset, which he said is a major hindrance to Africa’s forward march.

“Our generation needs to break the shackles of the impossibility mindset and embrace the mindset of possibility! It is time for us to figure out the best ways to be masters of our destiny, chart our own path and develop on our own terms. It is possible!”

Back home in Ghana, Dr. Bawumia has spearheaded Ghana’s successful digitalization drive to address some of the basic systems challenges he spoke about at the Conference.

He has, however, faced his own challenges of “impossibility mindsets,” and has often spoken about how pessimists attempted to impede and discourage many of the successful digital innovations he led, as not possible to implement.

The Harvard Africa Development Conference brings together high-level participants to discuss issues relating to the development of the African continent.

Vice President Bawumia delivered the keynote address as the Guest of Honour.