Ghana President Tells UNGA About African Demand for Opportunities

UNITED NATIONS, Xinhua – Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo told the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday that Africa has generally been “treated as an afterthought,” but Africans “are not asking for handouts, they’re demanding opportunities.”

“The world we live in today is a stark, unfortunate contrast of privilege and hardship. For too long, the voices of those marginalized — those left behind — have been drowned out,” said the president. “They constitute the bulk of humanity. These are the voices of the poor, the displaced, the vulnerable. We cannot, in good conscience, leave them behind. They should be at the centre of our discussions and our decisions.”

Africa is a continent rich in potential and resilient in the face of adversity, but it has also been disadvantaged by a global system that has generally treated it as an afterthought, said Akufo-Addo who is entering the closing months of his presidency.

“Africa is not a continent of despair. She is full of great possibilities. She is required, however, to chart a new course of development. Our young population is filled with energy, creativity and ambition,” he said. “The people of Africa are not asking for handouts — they are demanding opportunities in a new global architecture so they can have access to education, healthcare and jobs, to be able to build better lives for themselves, their families and their descendants.”

However, he said, it is impossible to address the challenges of today without speaking of the contradictions that exist within this global institution. Heads of state and government gather here to discuss peace, but wars continue to ravage nations. Justice is spoken, yet injustice endures.

“We must also recognize that the fight for peace goes beyond government actions. It is a fight for humanity itself,” he noted.

“However, peace cannot be imposed from the outside. It must be built from within. African nations must take ownership of their security, and the African Union needs to strengthen itself to be able to respond swiftly to threats,” the president said.