Nigerian lawyer and techpreneur Osita Oparaugo has challenged African leaders to abandon what he described as decades of diplomatic appeals for global recognition and instead build a united, economically powerful continent that can command international respect.\n<\/p>\n
Reacting to renewed calls by African leaders for greater representation, United Nations Security Council reform and a stronger African voice during the recently concluded United Nations General Assembly, Oparaugo argued that Africa\u2019s greatest challenge was not a lack of global recognition but its failure to organise its enormous collective economic and political power.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can 54 nations demand that the world recognise their collective power when they have failed to organise that power collectively?\u201d he asked.\n<\/p>\n
According to Oparaugo, Africa has the natural resources, population, markets, and human capital to become a dominant force in the global economy, but it continues to undermine its bargaining power through political fragmentation, restrictive borders, and limited intra-African trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop begging the world for recognition. Develop your God-given potential, organise yourselves, build your collective strength, and the world will come to you,\u201d he declared.\n<\/p>\n
Oparaugo questioned the effectiveness of repeated appeals for Security Council reform, reparations, and greater representation without corresponding efforts to strengthen Africa\u2019s economic independence.\n<\/p>\n
He maintained that diplomatic declarations, however legitimate, would achieve little unless African countries developed the collective economic leverage to influence global decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop measuring African power by the number of speeches delivered at the United Nations. If you want the world to listen, build something the world can\u2019t ignore. Africa does not need permission to become powerful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Drawing lessons from China\u2019s economic transformation, Oparaugo noted that China became a major global power by investing in manufacturing, infrastructure, technology and domestic industrial capacity rather than depending on international recognition.\n<\/p>\n
He urged African leaders to adopt a similar strategy by developing continental industries, strengthening supply chains and creating a genuinely integrated African market.\n<\/p>\n
The GetBundi Education Technology founder also called for a fundamental change in Africa\u2019s relationship with foreign investors and international corporations.\n<\/p>\n
He criticised the continent\u2019s continued dependence on exporting raw materials while importing expensive finished products manufactured from those same resources.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy should Africa export lithium and import batteries? Why should we export crude oil and import refined petroleum products? Why should we export cocoa and import chocolate?\u201d he questioned.\n<\/p>\n
Oparaugo proposed that African governments make local processing, job creation, and technology transfer central conditions in agreements that grant foreign companies access to the continent\u2019s natural resources.<\/p>\n
He recommended tax incentives for companies willing to establish processing plants, manufacturing facilities and technology operations in African countries. <\/p>\n
He said the continent must move beyond resource extraction to value creation if it hopes to retain more of its wealth and create sustainable employment opportunities.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAfrica must stop exporting its wealth and importing its value,\u201d he stated.\n<\/p>\n
Oparaugo also criticised the restrictions that continue to prevent Africans from moving, trading and establishing businesses freely across the continent.\n<\/p>\n
He observed that many countries outside Africa have established integrated markets that facilitate the movement of people, goods, services and capital, while African countries continue to maintain barriers that undermine continental economic integration.\n<\/p>\n
He called for faster implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, improved cross-border payment systems, interconnected infrastructure, and greater freedom of movement for African citizens.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAfrica must make it easier for Africans to do business with Africans. Free movement cannot remain merely a slogan, and the African Continental Free Trade Area cannot remain merely an agreement on paper,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He argued that an integrated African market would strengthen the continent\u2019s negotiating position, attract investment and enable African businesses to expand beyond their national borders.\n<\/p>\n
Beyond natural resources, Oparaugo identified Africa\u2019s youthful population as its greatest long-term economic advantage.\n<\/p>\n
He noted that millions of young Africans already participate in the global digital economy through software development, entrepreneurship, creative industries, and emerging technologies.\n<\/p>\n
However, he warned that their potential would remain constrained without deliberate investments in education, digital skills, technology, infrastructure and continental market access.\n<\/p>\n
He called on African governments to prioritise human capital development alongside industrialisation, emphasising that Africa\u2019s future competitiveness would depend on its ability to transform its young population into a productive and globally competitive workforce.\n<\/p>\n
Oparaugo urged African leaders to embrace an \u201cAfrica First\u201d approach to international diplomacy and economic development.\n<\/p>\n
Source: <\/p>\n
Nigerian lawyer and techpreneur Osita Oparaugo has challenged African leaders to abandon what he described as decades of diplomatic appeals for global recognition and instead build a united, economically powerful… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}