Vice-President Kashim Shettima has advocated home-grown solutions to Africa’s economic problems.
Shettima emphasised the need for innovative approaches for growth, development and prosperity on the continent.
He stated this during a High-level Accra Reset Initiative meeting held on the margins of the ongoing 2026 World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Shettima welcomed the vision of the Accra Reset, describing the initiative as a bold reimagining of Africa’s shared future built through African-led cooperation, and rooted in sovereignty and self-definition.
He also said that the initiative was a call to action as well as a call to reset the mindset of African nations, “from dependency to dignity, from aid to investment, from rhetoric to results.
Shettima said, “It is a call to prosper together. And I am confident that if we answer this call, the world will witness an African boom built not on the sands of commodity cycles, but on the bedrock of innovation, industry, and interdependence.”
He stated that it was only by building domestic productive capacity that African nations could convert their population and natural talents into real, resilient wealth.
The vice president said instead of expecting prosperity to be parachuted in, “it must be homegrown and earned.”
He observed that Africa was no longer the periphery but the pulse of the world’s demographic and economic future.
Shettima, who cited Nigeria where the Dangote Refinery is gradually turning the nation into a major exporter of fuel as an instance, pointed out that Africa can only rise when countries on the continent build.
He added, “Africa cannot rise on applause alone. We rise when we build. After decades as a net importer of value, Nigeria is on the verge of becoming a net exporter of refined fuel, powered by Africa’s largest refinery in Lagos, Nigeria: the Dangote Refinery.
(Vanguard)
