I was asked recently why, particularly since 2021, my work seems to have shifted more towards Africa and pan-African issues. My answer: it is not a shift – it is a reset to my original passion from my teenage and university days.
Back in university, I formed a small network called Africacan. Its purpose was simple but profound: to raise awareness and build confidence among African students in the diaspora – reminding ourselves that Africans are capable, and Africa will rise.
In the 1990s, I joined the peaceful global “Drop the Debt” campaigns across Europe, pushing for Africa’s debts to be cancelled. It was one of the best-organised movements in history.
The Jubilee 2000 campaign gathered 24 million petitions worldwide – the largest ever at that time. Our organisers were strategic: big presentations were timed with the G8 Summits to maximise impact.
Two moments remain unforgettable for me – marching in Bonn and London, dressed in my batakari and straw hat and beating my gong-gong and drum. I am proud to have been part of that movement, which gave Africa the chance of a fresher start in the new millennium.
That campaign helped bring about the HIPC initiative, leading to the cancellation of more than $100 billion in debt for many developing countries and raised significant global awareness about an issue that, unfortunately, has reared its ugly head again.
I may disagree with Nkrumah on aspects of his local politics, but I deeply admire his vision, passion and drive for African unity. In my own small way, if I can help to push that vision forward – today through the African economic integration project – then I would feel I have served my country and my continent well.
It is what I intend to devote the rest of my life to, even as I continue to practise law on the side to keep the bills paid.
Keep the torch burning
This is the spirit behind the Africa Prosperity Network (APN), and I remain grateful to the committed pan-Africanists who walk this path with me – our advisory council of eminent persons, from Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (South Africa) to Dr Eugene Owusu (Ghana) to Dr Amany Asfour (Egypt); our board of directors, from Dr Nkiru Balonwu (Nigeria) to Hicham El Achgar (Morocco); and our tireless management and staff, led by Sidig El Toum (Sudan), Dr Kofi Nyarko-Pong, Dr Godlove Asirifi and Ashley Asenso, and all our dedicated team members – including our newest recruit, Princess Fathia Nkrumah, who is determined to carry the torch lit by her grandfather Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the other illustrious pioneers of African unity.
A heartfelt thank you to former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who believed in this vision from the start and offered me guidance and support. To Frema Osei-Opare, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey and Kow Essuman, medaase.
Another big thank you to President John Dramani Mahama, who has never wavered in his support for our work – especially the annual Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD), which continue to enjoy the patronage of the Presidency of the Republic of Ghana. My gratitude also to Julius Debrah, Stan Dogbe and Joyce Bawah Mogtari, whose assistance has been invaluable to the future of APN.
I had the opportunity to thank Professor Benedict Oramah over lunch at the house of the secretary general of the AfCFTA just recently.
My very deep gratitude goes to H.E. Wamkele Mene and the AfCFTA Secretariat. In April 2022, Mr Mene personally led his team to our first major weekend retreat at Rock City in Kwahu, where we spent three days shaping the vision of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues into a deliberate, annual convening platform for projecting Africa’s single market.
One that unites Africa’s private sector with political leaders to think together, plan together and act together – with urgency. Urgency, because the task is no less than building the world’s largest single market of 55 states, for the benefit of Africa’s 1.5 billion people and growing.
That vision is already taking shape. In January, for the third APD, more than 4,000 participants from 46 countries joined us at the Accra International Conference Centre for three unforgettable days and nights. At APD 2026 (4-6 February 2026), we anticipate over 6,000 participants from 60 countries.
The focus of APD 2026 is on how we can empower SMEs, women and young people to own and drive Africa’s single market successfully for an inclusive, shared prosperity for all Africans.
The impact for Ghana alone is immense: visitors typically spend three to five nights here, contributing millions of dollars to our economy through visas, airport taxes, hotels, taxis, restaurants and shopping – on top of the funds raised to stage such a monumental event.
And, the Dialogues, where many deals are struck and regional value chain contacts are made, keep growing – offering 15-plus breakfast meetings, the Projet Afrique exhibition, the high-level Presidential and Business Leaders’ Dialogue, as well as the oversubscribed, prestigious Africa Prosperity Champions Awards and Presidential Gala Dinner.
I cannot thank Dr Sidi Ould Tah and Dr Fatima Elsheikh enough for believing in APN. Of course, we owe much to the multilateral institutions that have been with us since day one – BADEA, AfDB, Afreximbank, UNDP Africa and the ECOWAS Bank, among others – for their financial support, ideas and loyalty.
And we are equally grateful to the companies that share our dream of African economic integration: notable among them MTN, KGL, Bank of Ghana, DBG, Planet One Group, Telecel, NLA, Devtraco, Fabrimetal, Golden Coast Development, Africa Legal Associates, Cleopatra Group, Asaase Radio, Channel One TV and ALPi.
Too many to mention are those, including Patricia Poku-Diaby, Ambassador Amina Mohamed, Angela Lusigi, Hannah Awuku, Gayheart Mensah, Nana Bediatuo, Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, Prince Moses, Priscilla Ampratwum and vendors such as Auntie Afie and K T Danso-Misa, who nursed us to this point, since the idea came to me at Davos in the harsh pre-COVID-19 winter of 2020. Too many people to mention.
And, of course, to the people of Ghana – our host nation – thank you. You have given us not just hospitality, but pride and ownership.
I may have my faults, but this mission is bigger than any factionalism in Ghana. It is of a pan-African vision that transcends divisions, and one that Ghanaians – the most loyal pan-Africanists you will find anywhere on this planet – have embraced.
My very warm thanks go to all who quietly pray for us, and to my wife, Nana Adjoa Hackman, the managing partner of my life and of our work.
Ayekoo! Let us keep building the Africa we want – together, and in the shortest possible time, because Africa can! Thank you, Africa!
Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko
The writer is the founder and executive chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network (APN).
Source: asaaseradio.com
