Africa’s investment push must be anchored in real success stories, consistent government policies and stronger mobilisation of diaspora capital if the continent is to accelerate industrial transformation, Ghanaian businessman Alex Dadey said at a trade and investment forum in Accra.
Speaking during a high-level panel discussion, Dadey said African entrepreneurs have long had to navigate a complex mix of economic and political challenges, including currency volatility, inflation, infrastructure deficits, weak operational efficiency and gaps in education and skills development.
“Those challenges are real, but they are not the full story,” Dadey said, adding that focus, discipline and long-term partnerships had enabled African-owned firms to build resilient businesses serving both local and international markets.
He said his experience reflects that of many African entrepreneurs and members of the diaspora seeking to invest back home, a group widely viewed as critical to the continent’s development ambitions but often discouraged by policy uncertainty and regulatory complexity.
Dadey urged investors to look beyond headline risks and pay attention to lived business experiences on the continent, which, he said, highlight not only the obstacles but also the scale of opportunity across sectors.
“For me, three lessons stand out,” he said.
The first, Dadey said, is that successful investment promotion must be rooted in real-life success stories rather than abstract projections. Drawing on his time as chairman of Ghana Investment Corporation (GIC), he said personal credibility and proven track records were powerful tools in attracting investment.
“When we went out to meet investors, it was not just about macroeconomic stability,” Dadey said. “It was also about showing living examples of people who had navigated the system, complied with regulations, paid fees, built institutions and survived economic cycles.”
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Such narratives, he said, help reduce perceived risk and counter stereotypes that portray African markets as uniformly unstable.
“Who better to speak about doing business in Africa and Asia than those who have actually done it?” Dadey said. “Africans are the continent’s strongest ambassadors for investment promotion, and we must tell our own story.”
The second lesson, he said, is the importance of collaboration between the private sector and governments, underpinned by policy consistency and clear regulatory frameworks. While businesses can adapt to difficult conditions, sudden policy shifts and unclear rules significantly increase costs and deter long-term investment.
“Co-existence and collaboration are essential,” Dadey said. “Governments must ensure consistency in policies and clarity in regulations if they want capital to stay and scale.”
He added that Africa must also do more to mobilise its own internal resources for development, rather than relying primarily on external funding and expertise.
A central part of that effort, Dadey said, lies in better engaging the African diaspora, which he described as holding substantial capital, skills and global networks, as well as a deep understanding of the continent’s markets.
“The diaspora is not just a source of finance,” he said. “It is a source of expertise, credibility and networks.”
However, he said, unlocking that potential requires formal structures, credible investment gateways, appropriate incentives and institutions capable of building trust and managing capital effectively.
Formalising diaspora capital, Dadey said, could play a critical role in Africa’s industrial transformation, particularly in manufacturing, infrastructure and services.
His remarks come as African governments and business leaders push to boost intra-African trade and industrialisation under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to create a single market of more than 1.3 billion people.
As panel discussions opened, Dadey urged participants to speak candidly about both successes and failures.
“If we are serious about transformation, we must be honest about what works, what fails and what has changed,” he said.
The forum brought together investors, policymakers and private-sector leaders to explore practical ways of converting entrepreneurial experience and diaspora engagement into sustained industrial growth across Africa.
