The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has urged African leaders to prioritize local funding solutions, emphasizing that dependence on foreign aid is no longer sustainable.
“Access to aid, I think we can begin to think of it as a thing of the past,” she stated while addressing the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister and ex-World Bank developmental economist, stressed the need for Africa to rethink its approach to development by turning challenges into opportunities. She pointed to the decline in global funding, particularly for U.S.-backed health and education initiatives, as a sign that African nations must take greater control of their economic future.
She called on African governments to attract investment and mobilize domestic resources to adapt to the shifting economic landscape, shaped in part by policies under the Donald Trump administration.
