By Raliat Adenekan 

Nigeria’s Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has called for African nations to adopt homegrown solutions to address the continent’s economic challenges, emphasizing the need for innovative approaches to drive growth, development, and prosperity.

Speaking at the High-level Accra Reset Initiative meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, Shettima stressed that Africa must build its domestic productive capacity to convert its population and natural resources into real, resilient wealth.

“Prosperity is not imported; it is built,” Shettima declared, citing Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery as an example of African industrial ambition. The refinery is transforming Nigeria into a major fuel exporter, demonstrating that African capital and policy clarity can drive value creation.

The Vice President highlighted the potential of modular factories, artificial intelligence, and robotics to accelerate Africa’s industrialization. He emphasized the need for skills mobility, free movement, and investment in human capital to drive prosperity.

“We must let skills and ideas flow as freely as goods and capital,” Shettima said, noting that Africans abroad sent home $95 billion in 2024, more than total foreign direct investment.

Shettima welcomed the Accra Reset Initiative, describing it as a bold reimagining of Africa’s shared future built on African-led cooperation and sovereignty. He urged African leaders to shift from dependency to dignity, aid to investment, and rhetoric to results.

Ghanaian President John Mahama and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo also spoke at the event, emphasizing the need for African unity and cooperation to address global challenges.

The Accra Reset Initiative aims to promote African-led solutions to economic and development challenges, with a focus on industrialization, innovation, and human capital development.