South Africa’s High Commissioner to Ghana, Her Excellency Grace Jeanet Mason, is urging Africa’s leadership to consider creating the ‘Silicon Valley of Africa’ to boost trade and economic development among Africans.
According to her, Silicon Valley will sustain Africa’s innovation and support young, aspiring entrepreneurs to promote the importance of breaking barriers between African countries.
Speaking at the Africa Dialogue and Investment Summit, she also stated that Africa is the only antidote there is now; it’s a platform for development between our countries.
“It’s a way we industrialize our continent, where we can have free movement of people and proudly African goods. That is the antidote that continent has, and we’ll leverage on it and make sure it’s a success in our own interest as Africans to ensure our own development”.
The High Commissioner also highlighted the progress that has been made towards this goal, including the negotiation and confirmation of three investment protocols, with two more to be finalized by July. She further noted that eight African countries are now officially trading African goods.
The summit was graced by two Ghanaian celebrities, Juliet Ibrahim and Okyeame Kwame, and was seen as an important step towards strengthening relationships and creating opportunities for young people to experience different parts of Africa.
Miss Ibrahim encouraged that to aim at African free trade, Africans are to push themselves to learn each other’s languages
Speaking at the summit, Ghanaian music legend Okyeame Kwame also encouraged Ghanaian social media netizens to refrain from negative comments against Ghana and the government. “Even if you want to do that, use the local dialect so you don’t scare investors away,” he advised.
The summit, organized by Brand South Africa and Rebranding Africa in collaboration with the Faculty of Journalism, UniMAC-GIJ, focused on free trade in Africa, tourism, media, arts, and human rights.
Ghana’s Ambassador on Tourism, Arts, and Culture to South Africa, Mathew Mensah, spoke about the purpose and inspiration for the event, emphasizing the importance of engaging young people in the dialogue around free trade in Africa.
The organizers plan to continue promoting dialogue and collaboration between African countries to advance economic development and create a brighter future for the continent.