Africa needs collaboration, not foreign aid — Expert

An investment expert, Shirley Nkechinyere, on Wednesday, emphasised that African countries need a strong and symbiotic collaboration among one another to thrive.

Nkechinyere further warned that the continent should desist from its continued reliance on financial aid from European countries for survival.

The Chief Executive Officer of Crusto Prestige Group disclosed this while fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja on their expectations at the forthcoming Africa Business Leadership and Investment Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.

She said, “When we talk about foreign aid, Africa doesn’t need it. What we need is collaboration with each other to thrive. We need to get our act together so that we can make this happen in Africa.”

Continuing, the financial expert said she was optimistic that the policy advocacy at the Kigali summit would dwell more on how businesses can thrive amid partnerships across the continent.

According to her, many investment experts have identified leadership gaps and challenges that make businesses susceptible to failure.

Nkechinyere noted that knowledge gap, lack of exposure, and more importantly, lack of funding are sometimes contributory factors to such failure.

“We need resources to push our nations. I am talking about African nations. This is not just a Nigerian forum. We plan to bring together African nations to share ideas.

“We are fostering Pan-African partnerships. We need to understand that this platform is set to promote collaboration across Africa.”

On his part, ABLIS Head of Mission, Dr Okechuckwu Ari, said the planned summit is in line with the present administration’s efforts to renew the dented hope of many Nigerians.

He also recommended that President Bola Tinubu should focus more on the agriculture and mining sectors not only to boost foreign exchange in Nigeria but also to grow its Gross Domestic Product through unemployment reduction.

“The Federal Government needs to be there to learn more about modern technology in agriculture because it will help Nigeria achieve its goals.

“Nigeria is the giant of Africa whichever way you look at it, either in hydrocarbons or solid minerals. We expect the non-oil sector to grow GDP through reduced unemployment,” he stated.