Report By:Ishmael Barfi
Accra, Ghana– Africa must move away from its long-standing dependence on foreign aid and embrace a development model driven by innovation, entrepreneurship and home-grown solutions, the Executive Director of Social Innovation Africa, Anatu Ben-Lawal, has said.
According to her, the continent has reached a critical moment where it must harness its creativity, natural resources and human capital to build self-sustaining economies capable of creating jobs and driving inclusive growth.
During an interview at the sidelines of the stakeholders’ meeting for the SPARK Project held in Accra, Ben-Lawal stated that Social Innovation Africa is an organization created to become a leading voice in helping African governments rethink development and craft systems that reflect the continent’s realities instead of externally imposed models.
The €2.7 million SPARK Project is a multi-partner initiative aimed at strengthening young businesses, expanding skills development, and creating sustainable employment opportunities nationwide.
The project is being implemented by SOS Children’s Villages Ghana, Social Innovation Africa and Sontaba, with funding support from the European Union. It aims to equip youth-led organisations and emerging entrepreneurs with practical skills, financial resources, and technical support to scale their ventures and improve livelihoods.
Accordingto her, “We need to begin to design a new system of development for Africa—one that is not aid-based,” she said. “For too long, we have operated within systems dictated by others. This is the opportunity for African creativity to emerge through innovation and enable us to become self-sufficient.”
Drawing on years of experience in civil society across Africa, she said she had anticipated a future in which international donor funding would decline, making it imperative for African institutions to develop sustainable solutions tailored to local needs.
Ben-Lawal said Social Innovation Africa seeks to advise governments on how to unlock opportunities in the blue, green and orange economies while supporting innovation that generates employment, particularly for young people.
She identified Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as one of the most important tools for transforming Africa’s economy, arguing that current educational systems do not adequately prepare young people for the realities of the labour market.
“Our curriculum does a disservice because it does not sufficiently recognise the informal economy or our indigenous knowledge systems,” she said. “Africa is fundamentally an agrarian society, and agriculture remains the backbone of our economies. We must build innovation around agriculture and agroecology.”
Ben-Lawal called for greater investment in agricultural TVET programmes, noting that countries producing crops such as cashew, pineapple and shea have developed specialised training curricula that equip young people with practical skills across entire value chains.
She said Ghana must adopt a similar approach by investing in training that focuses on production, processing, packaging, value addition and exports.
According to her, strengthening vocational education would create employment opportunities in rural communities and reduce the need for young people to migrate to urban centres or seek dangerous migration routes abroad.
Ben-Lawal revealed that her commitment to tackling migration is deeply personal, recalling that a former fiancé died after attempting to migrate to Italy.
“I worked in migration for many years, so I understand the issues firsthand,” she said. “That experience made me determined to contribute to creating opportunities at home.”
After spending two decades abroad, she said she deliberately returned to Ghana and settled in Elmina to better understand the challenges facing rural communities and identify practical solutions.
She argued that Africa’s development challenges are not unique, pointing to countries in Asia that have successfully transformed their economies through industrialisation, innovation and investment in local industries.
“Our problems are not new,” she said. “Countries like China and others have overcome similar challenges. We need to learn from those experiences while building solutions based on our own knowledge and realities.”
Ben-Lawal also challenged African entrepreneurs to develop globally competitive products capable of attracting international markets, stressing that innovation extends beyond invention to include branding, packaging and effective communication.
“We are producing products, but often the packaging, creativity and presentation are not competitive enough,” she observed. “Innovation is not just about creating something new; it is about making people want your product.”
She emphasised the role of the media in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, explaining that Social Innovation Africa is working closely with journalists to document and amplify stories that inspire change across the continent.
Although acknowledging financial constraints, Ben-Lawal expressed optimism about the organisation’s future, saying discussions are underway to attract additional partners and international collaborators, including the World Economic Forum.
“Everything starts small,” she said. “Our goal is to build a movement that helps Africa harness its creativity, develop sustainable industries and shape a future driven by innovation rather than dependence.”
Source: www.thenewindependentonline.com
