Founder of Silver Bird Group, Ben Bruce has said that some African leaders do not understand ‘basic economic’ policies.
He lamented that the failures of Africans have subjected their countries to hardship and weak economic growth.
The former Nigerian lawmaker said this at the IATF 2023 Business Road Show in Lagos with the theme, ‘Positioning Nigeria to harness the opportunities at the African Continental Free Trade Area.’
Bruce insisted that some African countries are subjected to the most incompetent leaders in the world.
Bruce said, “I think one area that we have not addressed is leadership in Africa. I think some of us are subjected to the most incompetent leaders in the world, and these incompetent leaders make it impossible for us to do what we all talked about.
“I don’t support military coups, but if I am to guess, how many of the 54 African leaders can sit here and have an intellectual conversation and understand basic economic principles? If they do, how don’t they sell it to their people? That is the problem.”
Speaking further, Bruce argued that laws should be made to make it mandatory for government officials or representatives who intend to travel abroad to fly national carriers, a move he believes will promote the aviation sector.
He said, “If every African government says to the people, if you fly, fly only your carrier. What happens to the aviation industry? I was going to speak at Harvard University, and they said that for them to pay for my ticket, I must fly an American carrier. If you represent Nigeria at the United Nations, you must fly a Nigerian carrier, and if not, an African carrier. That should be a law for African leaders.”