Ruto: Africa is not a problem to be solved, but an asset for global prosperity

President William Ruto has challenged global leaders and investors to rethink their perception of Africa, declaring that the continent is not a burden to the world but a vital partner in driving future global prosperity.

Ruto said Africa possesses immense natural, human and financial resources that position it as a major force in the global economy.

“Africa is not a problem to be solved. Africa is an asset. Africa is an opportunity. Africa is not anybody’s liability,” Ruto said on Tuesday in France ahead of the G7 Summit, where he has been invited alongside five other African leaders.

He argued that the continent’s vast reserves of critical minerals, renewable energy resources and agricultural potential make it indispensable to the world’s future.

“We have huge natural resources that can be used, including critical minerals that are necessary for the energy transition. We have vast resources of renewable energy, from wind, solar, geothermal and hydro, that are important for the world’s prosperity,” he said.

Ruto added that global food security cannot be achieved without tapping into Africa’s vast tracts of arable land.

“It is not possible going forward to discuss world food security without the vast untapped arable lands of the African continent,” he said.

The President further highlighted Africa’s demographic advantage, noting that the continent will account for a significant share of the world’s population and workforce in the coming decades.

“Forty per cent of the world’s workforce by 2050 will live in Africa, and 25 per cent of the world’s population will live in Africa. Africa is not only going to be a workforce, but it is also going to be a market,” he said.

Ruto, however, identified three major obstacles that continue to hold back Africa’s economic transformation: limited access to concessional financing, high borrowing costs and what he termed the mispricing of African economies by global credit rating agencies.

“We must sort out the issue of access to concessional resources to unlock the potential of Africa. We must also deal with the fact that Africa continues to borrow at significantly higher interest rates than comparable economies elsewhere in the world,” he said.

He accused international credit rating agencies of exaggerating the continent’s risks, saying the practice undermines investment opportunities.

“Africa is not the risk that everybody wants everyone else to believe,” Ruto said.

The President pointed to emerging African multilateral financial institutions as potential guarantors that could help reduce investment risks and unlock affordable financing.

He also dismissed claims that Africa lacks capital, noting that the continent has an estimated $4 trillion in domestic resources held in pension funds, insurance assets and central bank reserves.

“What is lacking is the mechanism to mobilise these resources. We are not asking for Africa to be treated in a special way; we are asking for Africa to be treated equally. I don’t think that is too much to ask,” he said