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Africa is a rich continent that does not require aid from other continents to develop, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations has said, as he criticised perceptions of Africa as a beggarly continent.
Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim made the remarks at a reception in New York honouring Ahunna Eziakonwa, who was appointed Senior Adviser on Africa to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
“Africa consists of 25 per cent of the world population. The future of the world is in Africa. That’s something to talk about,” Jimoh said.
“I will not be part of the people that are talking about aid to Africa. Africa is made up of sovereign nations; we are independent, and we cannot afford to trade our sovereignty for aid.”
According to the Nigerian diplomat, what Africa needs is trade, collaboration, cooperation and partnership.
“I must thank President Donald Trump for initiating trade and investment as replacements for aid. Fantastic programme, so that we can actually capture the essence of our sovereignty and independence,” Jimoh said.
“I won’t be here to plead for any aid to any African country. We don’t need it. We need collaboration and cooperation and partnership towards human and material development.”
However, Africa’s participation in the US government’s “Trade over Aid” programme remains noticeably low. Of the nearly four dozen signatories, only six African nations have joined the scheme.
The Nigerian envoy also expressed concern over Africa’s absence from the permanent seats of the UN Security Council.
“Africa doesn’t have a permanent seat, and Africa is about 25 per cent of the entire world population. If you talk about insecurity, maybe because Africa is not on the permanent seat of the United Nations,” he said.
