African Youth Flee To Europe In The Hope Of Accessing The Mirage Of A Better Life

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called for the creation of opportunities for the youth in Africa.

He said this will stop the incessant brain drain that most African countries are grappling with.

He stated that Africans must be defined by what they see in themselves and not what others choose to say about them.

He said these on his Facebook page after addressing the Full Circle Africa Economic Conference, held in Accra on Thursday, December 28

“We, thus cannot allow temporary poverty and under-development to be the narrative of Africa, a continent which is so blessed with natural and human resources. We cannot allow our collective fate to be decided by exogenous shocks thousands and thousands of miles away.

“I can never get away from the oft-cited quote of that famous Jamaican Reggae artist, Peter Tosh, because it very much sums up who we are, and what our aspirations should be. He said, ‘Don’t care where you come from, as long as you’re a black man, you’re an African.’ Let us all remember that the destiny of all black people, no matter where they are in the world, is bound up with Africa,” Mr Akufo-Addo wrote.

Together, he added “We must help make Africa the place for investment, progress, and prosperity, and not from where our youth flee in the hope of accessing the mirage of a better life in Europe or the Americas.

“We want to derive maximum dividends from our relations with the African Diaspora in mutually beneficial co-operation, and as partners for shared growth and development.”

To him, the time has come for Africans and persons of African descent to define their narrative.