African business icon Sir Sam Jonah delivered a scorching critique of the continent’s economic inertia, declaring that Africa’s stagnation is not due to a lack of strategy but a profound “shortage of courage” among political and business leaders.
Speaking at the launch of the Africa Trade Summit 2026 in Accra on Tuesday, November 18, the Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital called for an immediate “hard reset”, challenging the summit to move beyond written intentions and produce measurable, courageous commitments.
Sir Jonah’s most resonant words focused on a crisis of political and institutional will. “Let me be blunt. Our continent does not suffer from a shortage of plans. It suffers from a shortage of courage,” he stated.
The business magnate specified five critical areas where he believes this courage deficit manifests, each directly contributing to Africa’s continued role as a primary commodity exporter and its limited presence in global value chains:
- Courage to enforce contracts.
- Courage to fight corruption consistently.
- Courage to maintain policies beyond elections.
- Courage to prioritise manufacturing even when the easy money is in exporting raw materials.
- Courage to support local investors before celebrating foreign ones.
The call for courage comes amidst sobering statistics that underline the continent’s structural vulnerability.
Approximately 80% of Africa’s total exports are still raw or unprocessed commodities.
This focus on “easy money” has resulted in the continent’s share of global manufacturing value-added stagnating at less than 2%, placing it at the bottom of the global value chain.
Sir Jonah insisted that political expediency, often resulting in policy instability, is crippling the private sector’s ability to invest in long-term industrial projects.
Six Commitments for a Courageous Future
To transform the upcoming Summit into a genuine turning point, Sir Jonah laid out six concrete, actionable deliverables for leaders to commit to:
- Financing commitments for value-added industries—shifting capital away from raw commodity trade.
- Cross-border supply chain projects underpinned by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) rules.
- Clear industrial policies that survive political transitions.
- Infrastructure partnerships—specifically in energy, rail, and ports—to reduce the prohibitively high cost of doing business.
- Stronger institutions that ensure predictability for investors.
- Platforms for mentoring and supporting African SMEs, which typically provide the bulk of employment.
Seizing the $3.4 Trillion Market
Sir Jonah tied this “courage” directly to the operational success of the AfCFTA, which links 1.3 billion people into a single market with a combined GDP of US$3.4 trillion.
He lamented that the current low intra-African trade figure—at only around 16.6% of total exports—is a direct result of the policies and institutional weaknesses that require this new courage.
He argued that a courageous industrial policy would transform Africa’s abundant resources into finished goods, citing examples like “An Africa that processes its own bauxite into alumina and aluminium” and “An Africa that produces electric vehicle batteries from its lithium.”
In a final appeal to leaders, he warned against continuing the destructive status quo: “We can continue the old way—exporting raw materials and importing poverty. Or we can choose the more difficult, but far more rewarding path.”
The path forward, he concluded, is a simple, non-negotiable “decision” that demands bravery from all.
“Let us seize this moment with clarity and courage. Let us build the Africa we know is possible—an Africa our children will be proud to inherit.”