By Vivian Amoah
Renowned Kenyan legal scholar and Pan-Africanist Professor P.L.O. Lumumba has warned that Africa risks losing its independence if the continent fails to achieve economic self-reliance.
Speaking at the Padmore-Du Bois Nkrumah Memorial in Accra ahead of the commemoration of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Prof. Lumumba said political independence without economic independence leaves African countries vulnerable to external influence.
He argued that African countries continue to depend heavily on external partners for trade, finance, technology and other critical areas of development, a situation he said must change if the continent is to determine its own future.
According to Prof. Lumumba, African leaders must return to the fundamentals of self-reliance and draw lessons from Nkrumah’s vision of a united and economically independent continent.
He called for greater African cooperation in areas including energy generation, transportation, manufacturing and research.
Prof. Lumumba specifically urged African countries to stop exporting raw materials without adding value, citing products such as animal skins and cotton that could be processed locally into finished goods such as shoes and clothing.
He also called for stronger African research institutions and the development of systems capable of meeting the continent’s own needs rather than relying predominantly on external countries.
