In a global order convulsed by war in the Middle East, shattered supply chains and the stubborn reflexes of imperial power, Africa finds itself at the centre of a contest not merely for resources, but for real sovereignty. Speaking to Pan-African Frequency, Professor Daniel Kwabena Twerefou, the Director of the Academic Quality Assurance Directorate and Professor of Environment and Resource Economics in the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana, aimed to answer how African states can summon the political will to use this disruption as a springboard in the construction of an independent, value-adding, regionally integrated productive base.
“The key is to shift from dependence on imports to regional production and logistics systems. That means investing in refineries, fertilizer plants, storage, transport corridors, and inter-African trade. This is not about self-sufficiency at the country level but regional industrialization under the African Free Trade Area. If this is done right, this crisis can escalate Africa's transition from a raw material exporter to a value-adding economy,” the professor explained.
The episode also featured the analysis of Ahmad Abdulaziz Kadhi, a Kenyan lawyer, and parliamentary secretary, on the continued defiance of UN General Assembly Resolution, demanding that the United Kingdom withdraw from the Chagos Archipelago and return it to Mauritius. Long after the moral and legal issues have been resolved, London still refuses to give up control of this strategic territory.
“The British traditionally had a lot of bases around the world. Interesting to note that you will see that the Chinese didn't have a lot of military bases around the world. However, they traded very well around the world, especially on the East African coast [...] We have seen from history that some of these bases have been used to, from the colonial days, bases like in African countries, they were used to detain, not only detain but torture also the freedom fighters, the people who had refused to give up their lands, the people who had refused to pay taxes, the people who had refused, who were fighting for freedom, or these are where they are detained and tortured, they are taken forcefully to these places,” he said.
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