Former governorship candidate of Labour Party (LP) in Imo State in the 2023 elections, Senator Athan Achonu, and the Senior Executive Vice President of Afreximbank, Denys Denya, among others, have said that the Afreximbank Annual Meeting platform offers an opportunity to drive Africa’s economic growth.
Achonu joined other Heads of State, Ministers, government officials, and renowned captains of industry at the just ended 31st African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Annual Meetings (AAM) held in Nassau, the Bahamas.
Achonu, an agroprenuer of international repute and CEO of Numo Farms Limited, noted that the forum provides business leaders the prospect to learn, network and contribute ideas towards the economic development of Africa.
Speaking to select media executives on the sideline of the AAM and ACTIF, Senator Achonu said that the Afreximbank annual meeting offers “business leaders opportunity to learn, network and contribute ideas towards the economic development of Africa.”
According to him: “Africa belongs to all of us and it is increasingly pivotal for us to unite to drive economic growth, promote food security and foster sustainable development across the Africa region and the Caribbean”
Earlier in his opening remarks, Mr Denya, said: “For a continent that is endowed with such an abundance of natural resources, the quest for sustainable development has been a perennial struggle.
“The state of development across the Caribbean region, while not identical, is not quite different from this narrative. It is in this context of sustained deprivation and marginalization that we seek to unify our forces in the context of Global Africa for a better future.
“In our unity, we have the numbers; we have the voice to sit at the table when decisions are made. We are a viable force to influence global decisions.”
Also in a striking remark, a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Prof Jeffery Sachs, called on Africans to embrace the consensus of unity in the face of stiff competition.
His words: “You cannot operate in this world as a small country. Even the small countries that are successful are part of somebody’s world. And Africa is too big to be part of somebody’s world. It’s got to be Africa as a fundamental pillar of the world scene.”
It would be recalled that the Afreximbank Annual Meeting was held from June 12-15, 2024 with the theme: “Owning our Destiny: Economic Prosperity on the Platform of Global Africa.”
The three-day event, which took place in the Bahamas jointly with the 3rd Afri-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) expressed a deep recognition of the increasing closer linkages between Africa and the Caribbean and the movement towards a global Africa uniting Africans, their Diaspora, and descendants worldwide.