At the next African Union summit, I would like to see Presidents Tinubu and Rampahosa present this joint continental development programme aimed at getting us out of the woods

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Africa accounts for 18% of the world's population, yet just 4% of its trade and 1% of its manufacturing capacity. It is thus no surprise that we are the poorest continent on earth and unless something drastic is done soon, the economic gulf between Africa and the rest of the world will keep growing

[2] We need an African Development Doctrine that compels all 55 nations on the continent to produce an least half of what they consume

[3] If any nation fails to produce 50% of all its needs, the African Union should be empowered to merge it with one of its neighbours

[4] Historically, Europe has taken over the running of sick countries under League of Nations, European Union and United Nations mandates, why is the African Union not doing likewise? For instance, our neighbour Cameroon was taken over by the League of Nations at the start of World War One and placed under joint British and French control

[5] I remember Paddy Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader once being put in charge of running Bosnia. That is how Europe acts when one of its own is in trouble. Now, when I look at some African countries like Burundi and Malawi with GDPs of about $3bn and $7bn for 10m and 18m people respectively, I ask whether they are really viable as nation states

[6]Why Malawi, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania are not one country is beyond me. Just imagine what Paul Kagame would do running such a regional giant

[7] What we need is for the African Union to set itself production targets like say, by 2030, we want to be manufacturing:

(i) 30% of the world’s automobiles

(ii) 50% of the world’s washing machines

(iii) 60% of the world’s laptops

(iv) 70% of the world’s mobile phone

[8] For this plan to take off, Nigeria has got to drive the process. If we can get South Africa and Egypt on board and equally committed, we are halfway there

[9] As things stand, Africa only exports primary commodities like crops, solid minerals and fossil fuels. We need the African Union to make it illegal to export anything outside our continent unless at least 50% value is added

[10] As a continent, we also need stringent importation laws. If anyone wants to supply us with anything, like say railway carriages, automobiles, etc, they should set up a local factory as a precondition for signing any contract

ayoakinfe@gmail.com