Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Former Governor of Anambra State and 2023 Nigerian presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has declared that Africa’s continued poverty is not due to a lack of resources, but poor leadership and mismanagement of its immense wealth.
Speaking at the London Business School, LBS, during an event organized by the Africa Business Club, Obi addressed students, scholars, and business leaders under the theme: “From Promise to Prosperity: Charting Africa’s Development with Political Will and Vision.”
He lamented that while the continent holds vast economic potential, it remains plagued by extreme poverty, insecurity, and rising unemployment due to chronic leadership failures.
“Africa is not poor. Our natural wealth is simply being poorly managed. We have everything, 30% of the world’s known mineral reserves, over 60% of uncultivated arable land, and 60% of global solar energy potential. Yet, we’re still talking about energy poverty.
“Our biggest challenge is simple, failure of leadership. Asia contributes over 35% of global GDP today. Africa contributes less than 3%. The difference is focus. While Asian leaders invest in education, healthcare, production, and poverty reduction, we do the opposite,” Obi told participants during a keynote and Q&A session.
The former presidential hopeful emphasized that Africa’s youthful population presents a demographic goldmine, but warned that without investment in human capital, the continent will miss a defining opportunity.
“Over 60% of our 1.4 billion people are young and productive. By 2050, 40% of the world’s youth will be African. That’s a massive advantage, if we choose to harness it,” Obi stated.
To reverse the trend, Obi called for a radical shift in governance anchored on five key values: competence, character, capacity, compassion, and integrity.
“We must invest in our people, education, health, productivity. We must feed our people. We must secure lives and property. We must stop wasteful spending and focus on poverty reduction,” he said.
He concluded on a note of optimism, saying: “Africa doesn’t lack potential. What we lack is purposeful, accountable, and competent leadership. A new Nigeria and a new Africa are POssible.”
The LBS forum provided a platform for high-level discourse on Africa’s development priorities, attracting participants from across the global business and academic community.
