Aku has been awarded the Medal of Merit in Leadership by the African Bar Association.
At the 2023 Annual Conference of the African Bar Association, which was held in Pretoria, South Africa, the Africa Bar Association bestowed upon the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, a Medal of Merit in Leadership Award.
According to Hannibal Egbe Uwaifo, the President of the Association, who presented the award, President Akufo-Addo was selected to receive it because he is "a pan-Africanist, Anti-Corruption Crusader, a rare democratic leader in the field of good governance, a true African Statesman whose legacies present African leaders must emulate, and we are minded to say will stand the test of time."
The President of the African Union expressed gratitude to the African Bar Association for the award, and he went on to say that the legal profession holds a privileged place in African nations, and that lawyers are guaranteed a distinct status as a result.
"In each of our nations, we have every right to feel a sense of pride in the fact that attorneys were in the vanguard of the struggle for independence from colonialism. Indeed, ever since the country gained its independence, lawyers have easily transitioned between the political sphere and the legal profession, he said.
The President told the gathering that the time has long since passed for Africa and Africans to determine their own story. This is because Africa has been unable to transform all of her vast natural advantages into the construction of viable governments, despite Africa's enormous natural advantages.
It is not what other people choose to say about us, but rather what we see in ourselves that should serve as our defining characteristic. However, if we do not engage in trade with one another, this will not be possible. According to what he had claimed, "intra-African trade is one of the lowest of any region on the global scale, and intra-African trade only accounts for three percent of global trade."
The President continued, "This is largely due to the 'colonial' economic model characterised by small individual economies, fragmented and disconnected regional markets, over-reliance on the production and export of primary commodities, and the presence of low productive capacities, all of which have been in existence for the last century."
President Akufo-Addo noted that the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), in which trading began on January 1, 2021, and whose Secretariat Ghana is privileged to host, represents a historic opportunity for Africa to significantly strengthen intra-African trade as a potent avenue for developing Africa's vast economic and material potential.
"There is strength in unity, as the old saying goes, and for all 54 Member States of the African Union, our strength lies with our numbers," said President of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat. We collectively have a population of 1.3 billion, the vast majority of whom are young people, and we are in possession of a collective GDP of 3 trillion U.S. dollars, which positions us as the eighth largest economy in the world," he emphasized. The majority of the population in our collective countries is comprised of young people.
According to his explanation, this places Africa in a situation where it has the potential to be an appealing investment destination. He went on to say that "with the relevant investment, we will be able to sustain economic growth, and create the job opportunities that the youth of our continent so desperately need."
The President of the country stated that "once fully realized, we can increase intra-Africa trade by thirty-five billion United States dollars (US$ 35 billion), and reduce external imports by ten billion United States dollars (US$ 10 billion) annually" when speaking about the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which he called a huge gamechanger.
In his explanation, he stated that this "will mean more opportunities for growth for our small businesses, as well as the potential to lift approximately thirty million (30 million) people out of extreme poverty." Additionally, if the AfCFTA is effective, it will imply that Africa's industrial exports will be diversified, which will lead to a reduction in the continent's excessive reliance on extractive resources and imports from other countries.
However, these gains, which are to be sought from the AfCFTA, cannot be gained in an environment characterized by turmoil and insecurity, as he explained.
"We, in West Africa, are currently preoccupied with the need to free the Region from the terrorist insurgency that has engulfed Mali, Burkina Faso, parts of Niger and Nigeria," he continued. This terrorist insurgency is a threat to the peace and stability of the coastal nations. "We, in West Africa, are currently preoccupied with the need to free the Region from the terrorist insurgency."
President Akufo-Addo continued by saying, "It is incumbent that, in our generation, we all stand together to defeat this menace, and guarantee the peace and stability, which are essential to the rapid economic development not only of West Africa, but also of the entire continent, which is the surest way to eradicate poverty in our time. It is incumbent that we all defeat this menace together." In the same line, we need to reaffirm our dedication to democratic governance and oppose any and all attempts to alter the government in a way that violates the constitution.
He told those in attendance that "the vision of our forefathers who fought the liberation of our continent from colonialism and imperialism" was realized with the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which paved the way for Africa's industrialization and transformation. What is necessary right now is for each of our nations' governments and corporations to demonstrate courageous leadership.
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