Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto
A flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has told world leaders and captains of industry to divert a chunk of their investments into Ghana and Africa’s agricultural sector for good returns.
Ghana and Africa, he noted, are the world’s biggest hope for global food security by 2050, hence an investment in the continent’s agricultural sector is a win for all.
“Ghana and Africa are ready to receive your investment in this era of our agricultural transformation”, he noted.
Delivering his keynote address at the African Investors Council Forum in Turkey under the theme ‘Agricultural Development and Investment Opportunities in Africa (Ghana as a case study), Dr. Akoto said Ghana and Africa possess the greatest potentials to feeding 9.7billion people globally by 2050.
This, he said, could be achieved if Ghana and Africa are able to align themselves properly by strengthening all sectors of their economies and transforming agriculture sustainably, believing that the transformational drive could propel the continent to be the driving force in an emerging economic order in the areas of Food, Renewable Energy, Water and Big Data.
Citing analysis by McKsiney, Dr. Afriyie Akoto said if agricultural development gets the necessary financial investment, smallholders across Africa could produce two to three times more cereals and gains. “In turn, this would add 20% more cereals and grains to the current worldwide annual output of 2.6billion tones,” he said.
“It is time we stop perceiving Africa as a “potential” investment destination but as an “actual” investment choice for Regional Trade and Foreign Direct Investments. It is time to create more mutually beneficial opportunities for trade, investment and collaboration with the African continent. To achieve this would require collaboration and political will of international actors to provide a level playing field in global trade – making it more fair and mutually rewarding”, he asserted.
Dr. Akoto, who is also a former two-time Member of Parliament for Kwadaso in the Ashanti Region said for agriculture to experience exponential growth in the African continent, much will depend on women who contribute to over 70 per cent of food production.
He has therefore, charged African governments to prioritize investing in women in the agriculture sector.