Former Member of Parliament for Kumbungu, Ras Mubarak, has called on African leaders to put their nations’ interests above partisan and personal ambitions, stressing that leadership failure remains the biggest obstacle to development across the continent.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, Mr. Mubarak — who is currently on a 163-day road trip across 39 African countries as part of the Trans Africa Tourism and Campaign promoting a visa-free Africa by 2030 — said the problem of underdevelopment in Africa, especially in West Africa, is largely a leadership crisis rather than a lack of resources.
“When you go to Benin, it is a shining example of a country that is getting its act together. So, the bottom line is leadership. If you have leaders who know that the job is well cut out for them and they are able to deliver on their promises, then it is well and good,” he said.
He criticised the tendency of successive governments to abandon projects initiated by their predecessors, describing it as a major hindrance to progress.
“The tragedy is that you have instances where one party comes and reverses everything that the previous government had done. You get projects being abandoned because it was done by one party, and the other does not want to allow the other to take credit,” he lamented.
Mr. Mubarak urged African countries to rally around a unified national agenda that transcends political affiliations and focuses on sustainable development.
“If we could all rally around one agenda — be it in Ghana, Nigeria, or elsewhere — and decide that the country must at all times come first, and not the political party or individual, then we can make a lot of progress,” he added.
He noted that southern African countries have made significant strides partly because of the patriotism and sense of national purpose exhibited by their citizens and leaders.
Mr. Mubarak’s Trans Africa Road Trip aims to promote African unity, cultural exchange, and intra-African tourism while advocating for a continent-wide visa-free regime by 2030.
Tariff increments won’t fix GWL, ECG woes – FABAG tells Mahama