London: Mr Sammy Gyamfi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), has urged the African diaspora to move beyond remittances and invest in productive sectors to accelerate the continent's transformation. The growing relations between Africa and its global diaspora should be converted into a productive force capable of generating capital, building institutions, and retaining more of the continent's values in African hands, he said.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr Gyamfi made the call at the EMY Africa-Africa Rising Symposium in London, themed 'The Growing Relationship between Africa and its Global Diaspora, and Why This Moment Matters.' He said Africa was experiencing growth in population, enterprise, and global strategic importance, but the critical question was who would own and benefit from the continent's rise.
Africa, he noted, must move from being a supplier of raw materials, cheap labour, and consumer markets to becoming a continent of producers, innovators, owners, financiers, and builders. Mr Gyamfi said the African diaspora constituted one of the continent's most strategic assets, possessing expertise, skills, technology, capital, networks, credibility, and experience that could support Africa's development.
Its youthful population, estimated at about 532 million people aged between 15 and 35, represented a major opportunity for growth and development if properly equipped with skills, financing, technology, and access to markets, he added. Mr Gyamfi cautioned that failure to create opportunities for young Africans could turn the continent's demographic advantage into a crisis characterised by unemployment, irregular migration, social unrest, and declining confidence in Africa's future.
Remittances, he said, had over the years supported families with education, healthcare, housing, and other needs, but the current moment required the diaspora to complement remittances with long-term investments. The GoldBod CEO indicated that diaspora capital should be channelled into manufacturing, commercial agriculture, agribusiness, logistics, information technology, green energy, education, healthcare, value addition, creative industries, and infrastructure to support sustainable growth.
He also encouraged diaspora professionals to return to Africa not only to visit but to mentor, invest, partner, govern, build enterprises, and transfer knowledge and expertise. Skills, professional reputation, networks, governance experience, and exposure to efficient systems should all be considered as forms of capital that could contribute to Africa's transformation.
Mr Gyamfi said Ghana's efforts to reset its economy included ensuring that Africans owned the commanding heights of sectors shaping the country's future while welcoming foreign investment that strengthened local capacity.