President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on the investor community to support the roll-out of Africa’s lucrative agro-industry to guarantee global food security.
He noted that with over 60 per cent of the world’s uncultivated arable land in Africa, the continent with its untapped potential was the new frontier for manufacturing, technology and food production.
“Africa is ready for business. Africa needs you and you need Africa,” the President told world leaders when he took his turn at the general debates of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.
The high-level General Debates of the UNGA77 opened Tuesday, September 20, 2022 with the theme of “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges.” It would end on Monday, September 26.
Drawing on the effect of the Russia-Ukraine was that has triggered global food crises, President Akufo-Addo rapped the investor community to see agro-businesss in Africa more of an opportunity, rather than the perceived, exaggerated risk, which according to him has been false but the dominant narrative.
“There is renewed commitment towards an inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and economic integration and the intensity of the challenges we face today is only matched, like never before, by the immensity of the opportunity before us.
“Incidentally, 2022 is billed as Africa’s Year to take action on food and nutrition development goals. We see the current geopolitical crisis as an opportunity to rely less on food imports from outside the continent and use better our sixty per cent global share of arable lands to increase food production.
“We have enough land, enough water, enough gas and enough manpower to produce enough fertiliser, food and energy for ourselves and for others. You need Africa because Africa is busily building the world’s largest single market of 1.3 billion people,” he stated.
With Africa’s agribusiness sector expected to reach some $1 trillion by 2030, the President was optimistic that the potential and opportunities for the continent’s agro-industry was a strong point for the investor community to increase investment to boost Africa’s food production.
“See Africa for what it is: the new frontier for manufacturing, for technology, for food production,” he said
