Africans Urged to Invest Not Just Send
Ghana Gold Board Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi has urged Africans living abroad to move beyond sending remittances and become long-term investors in businesses, infrastructure and industrial development across the continent.
Speaking at the EMY Africa – Africa Rising Symposium in London, Gyamfi said Africa’s relationship with its diaspora should evolve from emotional and family support into a strategic economic partnership capable of creating jobs, expanding industries and increasing African ownership of the continent’s resources.
Africa’s economic rise would remain incomplete if the continent continued to export raw materials while value creation and wealth accumulation occurred largely outside Africa.
Gyamfi argued that African resources should create African industries, African jobs, African brands, African wealth, African reserves and African dignity.
The African diaspora is one of the continent’s most underutilised strategic assets, with not only financial resources but also technical expertise, technology, global business networks and governance experience that could help accelerate economic development.
Gyamfi encouraged diaspora investors to channel capital into manufacturing, agribusiness, commercial farming, logistics, information technology, renewable energy, healthcare, education, infrastructure and value-added industries.
These sectors are critical to building more resilient African economies, and beyond financial investment, Gyamfi called on professionals abroad to contribute through mentorship, technology transfer and institution building.
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The creation of the Ghana Gold Board forms part of Ghana’s broader economic development strategy, including initiatives aimed at increasing domestic ownership in strategic sectors.
Gyamfi said the Ghana Gold Board plans to introduce gold-backed tokenised investment assets, which would allow more Africans to own a direct stake in the continent’s mineral wealth.
Several African governments seek to attract greater diaspora investment as a source of long-term capital and foreign exchange, and Gyamfi’s message reflects a broader shift in African economic thinking.
Remittances remain important, but diaspora capital deployed into businesses, industry and productive assets could have a far greater impact on employment, exports and long-term wealth creation across the continent.
Africa has approximately 532 million people between the ages of 15 and 35.
Citing the Mastercard Foundation, Gyamfi noted that the African youth needs access to skills, financing, credit, markets, technology, mentorship and institutions that reward effort.
African governments should strengthen policy certainty, investor protection, contract enforcement and institutional transparency in order to attract more long-term investment from both diaspora communities and international investors.
