President John Dramani Mahama has called on African leaders to focus on peace, economic stability, and accountable governance as the cornerstone for attracting meaningful investment into the continent.
Mahama stressed that partnerships and trade agreements alone are not enough to drive investment to Africa.
“While partnerships such as what we are forging here at TICAD 9 are important, a lot of the responsibility rests on the shoulders of African leaders to create an environment that is conducive to trade and investments,” he said Speaking at the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in Tokyo, Japan.
The President emphasised that attracting investors requires hard reforms and stable, predictable systems.
“We wish to partner with any nation of the world on the basis of a win-win. But let us not kid ourselves. Trade and investment will not come to Africa merely because we wish it.
“We must undertake the hard and necessary reforms to make Africa an attractive destination for investment,” he added.
President Mahama further underlined the need to address conflict, reform economies, and make public service transparent and free of corruption.
“That is why we must silence the guns and stop the fighting. That is why we must reform our economies and make them more stable and predictable.
“And it is why we must reform our governance and make public service accountable and free of corruption,” he stated.
