Aid can't develop Africa, let's work to build our continent – Akufo-Addo to African caucus

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated emphatically that "aid can never develop the African continent". The continent he says must get to work if she is to develop to meet the aspirations of her peoples.

Addressing the 2019 African Governors of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (African Caucus) meeting at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel on the theme: "Africa Beyond Aid: Enhancing Institutional Capacity and Innovative Finance for Sustainable Growth," President Akufo-Addo said, "Africans live in poverty in the midst of plenty and the continent remains poor despite its rich endowment of natural resources."

"Since assuming the reins of office in Ghana, two and a half years ago, I have been advocating and working for a 'Ghana Beyond Aid' because nobody needs to spell it out to us that the economic transformation we desire will not come through aid. For long enough, we have been on that trajectory and it has not happened. We are told there is aid fatigue. The taxpayers of the aid givers have a right to decide how their tax money is spent," President Akufo-Addo said.

The President further stressed, "The truth is that even if there was no aid fatigue, and with the best will in the world, the most charitable governments in place in the so-called 'donor countries', there will never be enough aid to develop Ghana let alone Africa to the level we want and aid was never meant to be what bring us to the status of a developed nation or continent."

The President charged the caucus during his address to seize the occasion offered by the 2019 Caucus Meeting and identify new strategies that will get the African continent to work in order to safeguard her prosperity.

"We should seize the occasion, each one of us in our various positions, together, working with the people of Africa and with our educated, skilled, dynamic and youthful population, we can build a prosperous and self-confident Africa and Africa beyond aid. We can and should do so. Let us get to work," the President said.

The Caucus will have a three (3) panel discussion as part of the meeting. Panel one (1) will be considering the subject of 'Enhancing Human Capacity and Skills Development to Accelerate Jobs and Economic Transformation'. Panel two (2) will look at 'Strengthening Institutional Capacity and Public Financial Management' and the third panel will focus its attention on 'Promoting Innovative Finance for Private sector-led Growth'.

The African Caucus was established in 1963, as the “African Group,” with the objective of strengthening the voice of African Governors in the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs), i.e. the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG), on development issues of particular interest to Africa.

Membership to the Caucus is open to all African countries who are members of the IMF and WBG, currently all the 54 countries on the African continent. The countries are represented by their respective Governors at these institutions, commonly referred to as the African Governors, who are usually Ministers of finance and economic development, and Central Banks governors.