President Ali offered Global Africa Leadership Award

Last Updated on Tuesday, 9 January 2024, 16:49 by Denis Chabrol

The Ghana-headquartered Africa Prosperity Network (APN) has picked President, Dr Irfaan Ali to receive the Global Africa Leadership Award later this month, the Guyanese leader was informed on Tuesday.

“On behalf of the Africa Prosperity Network and its partners, I am happy to inform Your Excellency that you have been selected to receive the Global Africa Leadership Award,” APN Executive Chairman, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko told Dr Ali in a letter dated January 9, 2024. He said the significance of the award is even more apparent in light of Guyana’s enviable position as the fastest growing economy in the world and how that new prosperity is shared along the principles of equity and probity.  

The award is expected to be conferred on Dr Ali, who is currently Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), on January 26 when the President of Ghana hosts the prestigious Africa Prosperity Champions Awards and Presidential Gala Dinner at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra, Ghana, as part of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2024. The President of Guyana has also been invited to deliver the keynote address to the Presidential & Business Executives Dialogue on Saturday, 27 January. President Akufo-Addo, the host, has invited several leaders from all regions of the AU to discuss the transformational issue of adding value to what we produce to sell in Africa and beyond.

“This is in recognition of the strong and transformational leadership you are giving to the good people of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, since your election as Head of State in 2020. In particular, your commitment to building a ‘One Guyana’, by emphasizing the need for unity, inclusivity and shared prosperity in Guyana’s multiracial society is highly commendable,” Mr Otchere-Darko told the President.

According to the APN Executive Chairman,  Dr Ali was also chosen for the award because of how he navigated the recent peak of border tensions between Guyana and neighbouring Venezuela. “The award is also in recognition of the strong and principled leadership you have shown during this period of heightened territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela over the Essequibo region,” the APN official said in the letter.

Mr Otchere-Darko informed the President that he would be among a small handful of distinguished people who would be deservingly acknowledged and celebrated for having shown extraordinary leadership in Africa and/or Global Africa, including the Caribbean – which the African Union has recognized as the Sixth Region.

The gathering has been billed as one that unites Africa’s 400 most influential figures, including heads of state, business leaders, selected ministers of state, policymakers, and thought leaders. The APN Executive Chairman said their convergence at Kempinski Gold Coast City bears testimony to the strategic economic collaboration that the Africa Prosperity Network and its core partners, including the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Afreximbank, UNDP Africa, AfDB and others seek to intensify.

The APN describes itself as a private not-for-profit organization established with a vision to promote Africa beyond aid, by creating the platforms for holding critical dialogues that will reshape the thinking of the leaders of this continent and guide them into taking those bold steps in the area of trade, commerce, the structure of its national economies, political conduct and our culture that will bring prosperity to the people of Africa. APN says its approach is to mobilize African leaders both in politics and business and help build those partnerships that will reshape the principles and policies required to ensure that we place the people of Africa first and work towards an upliftment of the standard of living, by creating an Africa conversation by Africans and for Africa in the context of the challenges and opportunities peculiar to the continent.