Use Ghana’s payment platform as benchmark – Dr Zuma urges African countries

The Chairperson of the Advisory Council of the Africa Prosperity Network (APN), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has urged African nations seeking to streamline their digital transactions to use Ghana’s mobile payment platform as a benchmark.

She emphasized the need for a continent-wide mobile interoperability system, warning that the fragmentation across African Union (AU) member states complicates efforts to establish a harmonized digital ecosystem.

Addressing delegates on the final day of the Africa Prosperity Dialogue in Accra today (Saturday, February 1, 2025), Dr. Zuma called on African countries to prioritize digital communication and financial platforms over the next five years. She stressed the importance of investing in broadband, expanding e-commerce, and enhancing mobile payment platforms to unlock the full potential of digital trade.

Dialogue

The APD aimed to assist African countries in transitioning from a fragmented continent to an integrated one, with a continental infrastructure investment framework guiding coordinated efforts among governments, investors, and development partners.

The three-day dialogue also highlighted key issues and recommendations that African countries must collectively commit to addressing.

Logistics and transport

Sharing her thoughts on logistics and transportation across the continent, Dr Zuma highlighted Africa’s infrastructure deficit as a major impediment to the free movement of people, goods, and services. She noted that poorly maintained roads, limited airline systems, outdated railways, and inefficient ports have driven intra-African trade costs up by 40 to 80 percent.

She, therefore, urged African countries to fully implement a single African transport market and deregulate air services to liberalize intra-African air transport in terms of access, capacity, frequency, and tariffs.

Dr Zuma further pointed out the significant potential of Africa’s maritime highways in transforming the continent’s transportation sector.

“We must aggressively implement the African Integrated Maritime Strategy 2050. We must not only build railways, but we must also manufacture our own trains on the continent,” she emphasized.

Energy

Touching on the energy situation across Africa, Dr Zuma noted that more than 30 countries experience regular power outages. She echoed the call from delegates for a collective and coordinated regional energy policy, along with the development of interconnected power plants to ensure reliable and affordable electricity supply.

She urged African leaders to take decisive action.

"It is time for Africa to stop talking, come together, and invest to solve its power problem," she said.