Trump’s Tariffs: Invest In Our Youths, Obi Urges African Leaders

The former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has advised African leaders to invest in the huge potential of youthful human capital of over a billion workforce in the continent.

Obi said this against the backdrop of the disruptive trade Tariff of the United States President Donald Trump on the continent.

He spoke on Tuesday in London, at the Plenary of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) Trade and Investment Summit of 2025 on the topic ‘Africa Role In The New Global Economy.’

He said Africa must create the needed skilled workforce and productivity both for Africa’s and global development.

According to Obi, “The discussion on Africa’s Role in the New Global Economy is a topic of immense importance considering the opportunities and endless potentials within the vast continent of Africa, which, when fully harnessed, promises a great positive impact, not just within the Commonwealth economy but globally.

“The recent interventions of President Trump have disrupted some of the settled assumptions of the global economy, which has seen many countries now taking proactive and active responses to secure their economies, while the same is presently not happening in Africa.

“Despite its vast opportunities, Africa’s share of global trade, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO), stands at 2-3%. Our share of the global GDP stands at about 3%. Africa’s GDP per capita is even worse at $1900 when compared to the continent in ranking – Asia, where the GDP per capita is around $9000. Africa’s global trade and GDP have been stagnant for more than 2 decades in contrast to Africa being the 2nd largest and most populous continent with a population of about 1.5 billion people. Africa is home to the most youthful and dynamic workforce with the largest concentration of working-age population of about 1 billion people.

“Africa has an abundance of natural resources ranging from minerals to nearly a billion hectares of arable uncultivated land. Africa holds over 60% of the world’s arable land. Approximately 30 per cent of the world’s mineral resources are found in Africa. While Africa did not witness a similar economic transformation under globalization 2.0, we need to rise up and take the right actions to ensure that we can profit from whatever trading system will arise in the wake of the second Trump Presidency. This Africa can achieve by simply investing in its potential – the youthful human capital of over a billion workforce it has to create the needed skilled workforce and productivity both for Africa’s and global development.

“Africa’s food and agriculture market is projected to increase from its present amount of about US$280 billion a year to over US$1 trillion a year by 2030. This shows that with agriculture at the core of Africa’s economic transformation, the continent has the potential to become a global agricultural powerhouse and a net exporter of food, contributing immeasurably to the new global economy.

“What is missing is the leadership that can reorder priorities and scale up productivity so that African countries can enter higher grade value creation. We have seen evidence of the possibility of higher-grade value creation in some of the better-governed African countries. The challenge is scaling up and sustaining innovative production in the region. We need to produce more goods and services that the world needs and be smart to leverage whatever global trade arrangement survives Mr Trump’s disruption.

“This is a junction for transformative change in Africa. This period requires new thinking about leadership. It requires refocusing on productivity. Africa pursued economic convergence in the previous era by importing political and economic institutions of Western developed economics without focusing on productivity and human capital development like the developmental state of Asia.

“This is the time to rebuild African economies through new leadership that focuses on rapid upgrades in productive capacities, especially innovative education and healthcare and pulling Africans out of poverty,” he said.