BY SIFISO NHLABATSI
MBABANE – Africa remains one of the world’s richest regions in terms of natural resources, yet its people continue to endure widespread poverty, a paradox that Professor Delanyo “Dela” Adadevoh says should force Africans to examine the mindset shaping how the continent uses its wealth.
Adadevoh, a Ghanaian leadership-development expert and Christian ministry leader, said Africa possesses an extraordinary concentration of the world’s natural wealth but has failed to translate that wealth into prosperity for its people.
He was speaking during the Kingdom Leadership and National Transformation Meeting attended by Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini and religious leaders at Hilton Garden Inn on Sunday afternoon.
“Through the works of God, Africa is the warehouse of the natural resources of the world,” said Adadevoh.
He argued that Africa’s resource endowment gives the continent an opportunity to develop without depending heavily on resources from elsewhere.
“This is the only region in the world that can develop without importing anything from anywhere,” he said.
According to the professor, Africa possesses more than 30 per cent of the world’s natural wealth.
However, he said the continent faces a glaring contradiction where its enormous resource wealth exists alongside widespread poverty among its population.
“Africa boasts over 30 per cent of the natural wealth of the world. And here is the paradox. The wealthiest region of the world is inhabited by the poorest people in the world,” Adadevoh said.
He described this as “a head cracking paradox”, arguing that the situation points to deeper problems that need to be confronted if Africa is to transform its natural wealth into improved living standards.
“So there must be something seriously wrong,” he said.
Adadevoh said while there could be several factors contributing to Africa’s economic challenges, he believed the continent’s mindset was a fundamental issue that needed attention.
“When you want to look at what is seriously wrong, I will simply say that the root of it, whatever the causative factors are, the root of it is the African mind today,” he said.
The professor made the remarks while speaking on what he described as Africans understanding their place in God’s plan.
He said Africa’s significance should also be understood from the perspective of humanity’s origins, arguing that scientific evidence points to Africa as the birthplace of Homo sapiens.
“Africans were chosen to be the beginning, the genesis of humanity,” he said, adding that “the first Homo sapiens were more African than anything else.”
Adadevoh said Africa’s natural-resource endowment should therefore be viewed not simply as a source of wealth but as an opportunity and responsibility for Africans to transform their societies.
His remarks formed part of discussions at the Kingdom Leadership and National Transformation Meeting, which brought together church leaders, business representatives and other stakeholders, with Prime Minister Dlamini among those attending.
Adadevoh is the founder and president of the International Leadership Foundation, which focuses on developing leaders of integrity for societal transformation. He also serves as Senior Vice President of Global Leadership at Campus Crusade for Christ.
#KingdomLeadership #NationalTransformation #Africa #AfricanLeadership #DelanyoAdadevoh #Leadership #NaturalResources #EconomicTransformation #Eswatini
