“I think what, maybe, African countries need to do is that, why don’t you give Africans visas on arrival that will facilitate trade?” he suggested, sharing a scenario where one has to get a visa to get into “country A” as an African.
Recounting a personal experience, the Dangote Group CEO, decried a situation where “we go with a British guy or maybe a Nigerian holding a British passport (and) he is allowed in”.
“We were arguing, debating about my visa and I am the one with the money. If you are making life difficult for me, there is no way I will go and invest”, Channels Television quoted Dangote as saying.
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Afreximbank Annual Meetings, Mohamed Maait, noted that the continent could harness its trade and investment portfolio in order to grow its economy.
“If you look at the treaty documents that established the Organisation of African Unity, they clearly set out an objective and that objective is that we must have economic integration in Africa and that we must introduce tools to advance that objective of economic integration in Africa,” he stated.
The continent’s top business minds, government functionaries and policymakers, as well as past and present leaders were present in Accra to grace the occasion.
The event was graced by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, and former industry, trade and investment minister Niyi Adebayo.