Shettima urges African leaders to ramp up GDP

Vice President Kashim Shettima has implored African leaders to work towards ramping up the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to $3.1 trillion.

Shettima, according to a statement issued by his Media Assistant, Stanley Nkwocha, made the call at the African Economy of Scale Plenary during the on-going World Economic Forums (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

He noted that the total GDP of African countries taken together was barely $3.1 trillion which is less than 3 percent of world GDP.

The Vice President regretted that African trade was still hovering around three percent of world trade.

He said: “African trade still hovers at 3 per cent of world trade. These indices must be reversed and ramped up. I believe this is one of the key concerns of Africa Economy of Scale.

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“It must be borne in mind that African economies are still largely primary and basic in nature with considerable dependencies on the global economy.

“Most countries on our continent are still known for their export of raw materials, minerals and food crops.

“African economies understand that we must begin to add value to primary products like cash crops and step up to secondary and tertiary product manufacturing.”

Shettima said Africa was a growth economy in dire need of investments and infrastructure.

He, however, told African leaders that “economies of scale portend the ability to do more by coming together and form a more formidable unit, with a bigger voice and stronger negotiating abilities.”

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