H.E Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of Ghana, on Saturday, April 15, 2023, addressed a
gathering of students, academics and the business community at Harvard University as the guest
speaker, during the African Development Conference at the Harvard Law School, where he
shared his views on the broader theme of reimagining Africa’s growth on African terms.
He said, “In my view, the greatest bane to the development of Africa is our inability to solve the
basic problems of the absence of unique identity for our population, functioning property address
systems, financial inclusion, payment systems, efficient public service delivery, etc. that
underpin our economic activities. For many years after independence, we have been trying to
transform our economies without data and transparent systems. Without data and systems
African countries cannot participate in the fourth Industrial Revolution”.
Dr. Bawumia further stated that, Africa has for long been shackled with impossibility mindset
which is probably the result of the experience of years of slavery and colonialism, stressing that,
“We don’t believe in ourselves”.
He therefore urged that, for us to realize our full potential and set ourselves apart we need to
break the shackles of impossibility mindset and embrace the mindset of possibility. Adding that,
“African countries can do what the Advanced countries have done and more. It is possible”.
