Former Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has called for the establishment of an African diaspora infrastructure fund under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to drive major development projects across the continent.
Speaking during a panel discussion at the 2025 Citi Business Festival forum in Accra on Thursday, June 12, Dr. Spio-Garbrah stressed the need for a Pan-African approach to mobilising long-term funds, particularly in the area of infrastructure such as railways.
Dr. Spio-Garbrah argued that AfCFTA, as a regional trade initiative, should take the lead in coordinating such collective investments, adding that harnessing diaspora remittances through structured funds could significantly change Africa’s development trajectory.
He pointed out that colonial powers prioritised building railways to transport raw materials to coastal areas, and urged African leaders to adopt a similar infrastructure-driven model for development.
“This is the time for an African diaspora infrastructure fund. I think Pan-African…Where’s the Pan-African pension fund, which could easily do a number of things? The long-term funds are what we need for railways.
“Let us look at what our colonial masters did. They had raw materials they wanted to bring to the coast, but what did they do? They went straight to the railway,” he stated.
He expressed deep concern over the lack of policy implementation regarding railway travel between Ghana and Burkina Faso.
“Railway is the cheapest volume transformational infrastructure in any part of the world. If anyone goes to any part of the world, we take trains and that. The train system is very critical. We’re talking about going to Burkina Faso, and we have had that for many years, but implementation is not there. Actually people end up stealing physical railway tracks,” he said.
The forum themed: “Global Tariffs Dispute – Navigating Ghana’s Recovery Strategy”, is live on Channel One TV.
The event brought together top economists, trade analysts, business leaders, and policymakers to examine how ongoing trade tensions between global economic powers are affecting developing economies like Ghana — especially in light of recent efforts to stabilise the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals.
2025 CBF: Ghana’s overdependence on three export markets risky – Michael Kottoh warns
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