The Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, has admonished African leaders to look past the era of waiting to receive aid from developed nations and instead be creative with the domestic resources available in the continent.
President Donald Trump recently announced the suspension of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) activities across the world, citing financial mismanagement.
This development comes following Scott Perry, the united States Republican lawmaker who alleged that USAID funds were used to arm Boko Haram terrorist organizations.
Addressing journalists at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Nigerian former finance minister, Okonjo-Iweala commented on the development, stating that African leaders must look inward for funding opportunities for the continent. She emphasizes that Africa must shift its perspective to recognize opportunities amid the challenges posed by the suspension of billions of dollars in global funding for health and education initiatives in various countries.
Okonjo-Iweala asserted that African leaders need to focus on attracting investment and mobilizing resources to navigate the current social and economic realities influenced by the policies of the Trump administration. Africa, really, we really need to change our mindset. Access to aid, I think we can begin to think of it as a thing of the past. We really have to focus on two things: attracting investment and mobilizing our own domestic resources. She said
