Speaking at the second edition of the Pan Africa Lecture organised at GIMPA in Accra, Professor Douglas Boateng, Board Chairman of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) and Founder of PanAvest International and Partners, urged Ghanaians and Africans, in general, to be cautious of procurement sourcing and to develop a positive mindset toward promoting the indigenous market.
At the beginning of the session, the host, Professor Ebenezer Adaku, Head of the Department of Management Science (GIMPA), specified that the lecture’s brain is to bridge the gap between classroom education and real-life practices-which was the purpose of the lecture.
Furthermore, in attendance at this Pan-African lecture were Mr. Richard Okrah, President of the Chartered Institute of Supply Chain Management, SRC President of GIMPA, Emmanuel Andrews Sammini, Dean of Business School- Professor Fameyeh, and Former Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, among others.
When speaking, the guest speaker, Prof. Boateng stated that Africans have the resources and capacity to transform the continent into a dreamland. According to him, the dream will only be realised if the right mindset and strategic purchases of African products are adopted.
“My experiences across the African continent and some parts of America and Europe over the past 25 years have indicated that procurement is the key to our prosperity. Without procurement, we are going nowhere as a people. The government knows my views that we have to do something about procurement and strategic sourcing. Because we can’t keep consuming what we don’t produce. Africa as a continent produces more jobs than any other continent in the world because we export our currencies to go and buy and bring it back to be consumed,” he said.
The ardent Pan-Africanist also acknowledged some current challenges with African countries’ development but urged African leaders to abandon individualism and promote state cohesion.
“I believe that the artificial borders shouldn’t weigh us back that is why AfCFTA has been created but it is up to us to make it work. The Africa that we desire is in our own hands,” he said
“Let’s not kid ourselves because there are challenges with covid, the war, and economic crises among others but out of these, I see an opportunity. Africans were doing fine until Covid came. It was a wake-up call to us and there was a lot we could have done to upskill our development. We produced our nose masks with the cloth but most of us preferred the Chinese production due to pricing,” he added.
He also revealed that his latest book, ‘Executive Insight Series: Insights Into Strategic Sourcing: The Inextricable Link to Africa’s Long-Term Industrialisation, Supply Chain Governance, and Economic Development,’ contains a lot of information on the subject. And 50 lucky students received free copies of the insightful research and key to Africa’s development during the lecture.
The Chairman for the occasion, Professor Martin Tuuli, Deputy Rector for Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) shared, “The lecture by the renowned professor, Douglas Boateng is a very important discussion to have as a people. We need to empower our young ones that it is possible and that not all hope is lost. They are important and the key group that can drive Africa to where it needs to be and for us, this lecture is just the right step to take.”