,,,,,,,,,,As Maiden Virtual Africa-Caribbean Achievers Summit Takes Off
Story: Mohammed A.Abu
Mr. Kwesi Abeasi, Chairmin, Non-Executive Director, InvestCorp has called on African governments to take endeavor to take seriously factoring of value addition into international agreements in relation to resource seeking investments, within the context of their Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) drives.
Lack of this most important singular act on the part of African governments Mr.Abeasi intimated, has led to host countries being short-changed by foreign investors as host countries earn a pittance from the exploitation of their rich natural resources endowment potential.
He said the lack of value addition in agreements with resource seeking investors, has created the situation whereby raw gold or ore is what is mainly exported from mineral resources rich African countries rather than processed and value added products from commercial refineries in the host countries.
Mr. Abeasi, cited the popular Niger incident to buttress his point on how African countries are being short-changed to the extent that the country was offered a pittance of €0.80 per Kilogram while the same quantity actually was sold for €200 on the international market.
Mr. Abeasi was delivering his Keynote Address, titled, “Economic Growth and Investment in Africa during the opening ceremony of a two-day (4th-5th March) maiden virtual Africa and Caribbean Achievers Summit, which took off yesterday Monday and ends today, Tuesday,5th March,2024...
The opening welcome address was delivered by Mr. Benjamin Acheampong, the Group President, WMG,UK, whiles goodwill messages was delivered by Dr. Joe Tackie, CEO, Global Entrepreneurship Solutions.
The event seeks to parade some of Africa and the Caribbean’s most powerful entrepreneurs, start-ups, and business owners on the theme “Corporate Africa, the 6th Region, AfCFTA, and Beyond.
The event seeks to discuss key strategies, processes, innovative ideas, skill sets, and funding opportunities they employ to make them successful at what they do. Discover from renowned business owners and entrepreneurs what your purpose, potential, business niche, and essential tactics are as an African or Caribbean
Other Speakers
Other key Speakers for the day were Mr. Paapa Bartels, Head Trade and Investments, Ghana High Commission, UK, who spoke on “The Role of Diasporans in Economic Development” Dr. June Soomer, on “Strengthening of Regional Integration and Cooperation in Africa and Caribbean”, Mr. Louis Yaw Afful, an international Trade Practitioner and Investment Consultant on “Domestication of AfCFTA Trade in Services Protocols whiles Mr. Charles Owusu, CEO, Ghana Petroleum Hub on his part, spoke on, “Creating Enabling Business Environment Through Good Governance & Leadership”.
Panel Session
A panel discussion, held under the theme, “Righting the Wrongs of Doing Business in Africa and the Caribbean” featured panelists namely, Dr. Errington J. Thompson, Chair & President, AACARI, Mr. John Rocha, Chief Director, AfCFTA, SA, Mrs Christine S. Ntim, CEO, Global Ecosystem Start-Up, Haiti, and Barrister Anthony Adiadi, Director, International Development & Strategy, Uwa Africa Group.
Africa’s Gargantuan Annual Wealth Leakage to Already Rich Nations
According to Paul Akiwumi, Director for Africa and Least Developed Countries, UNCTAD, in a feature article, published on the Organization’s website on the 29th September,2020, Africa loses at least $40 billion each year from the under invoicing of commodity exports from the continent, according to the latest comprehensive data available.
“The size of trade gaps varies by country, but is relatively consistent by commodity group, with gold exports representing 77% of the total, followed by diamonds (12%) and platinum (6%).
“The proceeds from trade under invoicing and other illicit financial flows (IFFs) contribute to an average of $88.6 billion per year of capital flight from Africa, which is wealth sent and held abroad.
“These outflows represent a considerable opportunity cost to development in Africa, draining the capital available to invest and create jobs, and reducing the potential tax revenues governments could use to spend on infrastructure and social programmes.
“By some estimates, improving tax collection, along with curbing capital fight and IFFs, could raise tax revenue in Africa by an additional 3.9% of GDP, or $110 billion a year”.
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