‘Africans Have to Say & Shape Conversations That Mirrors Reality’: Economist Urges
‘Africans Have to Say & Shape Conversations That Mirrors Reality’: Economist Urges
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From South Africa’s data-driven rebuttal of gloomy U.S. claims, to Ethiopia’s launch of a gas-by-rail project aiming to power the continent, to Ghana’s mining royalties hitting record highs — this episode shows how Africa is shaping its own narrative and steadily investing in its future.
When US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made claims that South Africa was acting out of spite, division, and racial agendas within the G20, suggesting these choices haven’t led to growth, Wandile Sihlobo, Chief Economist of South Africa’s Agricultural Business Chamber, fired back with facts. In a world often eager to impose its own narratives on Africa, he didn’t just offer an opinion, but anchored his response in the data-backed numbers of his country’s journey since the dawn of democracy in 1994. Pan-African Frequency engaged the leading economist, as he asserted that African perspectives, grounded in data and African contexts, must be at the forefront of how the world understands the continent’s progress, its challenges, and its potential.
“I think the core thing here is in appreciation of the importance of the African continent, as well as the fact that we cannot be left behind and decisions gets taken elsewhere, and we just have to go along with that [...] I think that there must be an understanding that no one is coming to save us, no one is coming to tell our story, no one is coming to share our perspectives, which is why it's very important, like the conversation I was having on the X platform where Secretary Rubio said something, and we had to quickly correct that narratives because as Africans we have to write our own stories. As Africans, we have to publish and say and shape the conversation in a way that we feel really mirrors the reality. Because sometimes when people are observing Africa from far, they lack the context and the day-to-day experience, which is why it's important than that us, the people on the ground who not only have the data but also have the context and the feel of the events, we get to be at the forefront of narrating and putting the story out there,” the expert explained.
In a bold move, Ethiopia signed the historic deal to launch the “Gas by Rail” initiative, intended to power Africa by transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) across 40 Sub-Saharan nations, serving over 1.2 billion people with a freight rail system. At the launch of the project, Sputnik Africa interacted with Bateo Hassen, the country’s state Minister for Ministry of Transport and Logistics, as he shared his perspectives on the significance of the project for the continent.
“This [Gas by Rail project] means it's really aligned with our grand green development, economic development efforts [...] We have a plan to sell our energy to our neighbors, our sister and brothers’ countries of Africa. Not only energy, we are exporting different agribusiness products to our African countries' brothers. By producing, maximizing our investment on our resources, we can be a producer and exporter of different items, different natural resources, also energies. That's why Africa will never remain as importers, but we will become exporters of different segments of products,” Hassen indicated.
This episode also features:
Makonnen Ketema, the Son of the Legendary Ethiopian Diplomat Ketema Yifru,
Ransford Sackey, a natural resources and environmental governance expert from Ghana
Tune in to listen to the full conversation with our guests on the Pan African Frequency podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
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