Lack of strategic leadership and "out-dated mind-set" of present leaders, have been identified as some of the reasons holding back Ghana’s economic development.

The Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), Drolor Bosso Adamtey, who made the statement in Accra, expressed worry that Ghana and Africa in general possess rich natural resources, but are still immersed in abject poverty and plagued by protracted diseases and conflicts.

"Ghana and other African nations are the first to be ignored and the last to be recognised, Africa does not need hand-outs but genuine leadership; we can develop if we invest in the leadership and social marketing skills of the youth," he noted.

“Our leaders are failing because they are still tied to the apron strings of the colonial masters, giving them negative account of their own countries to secure financial or technical aid,” Adamtey stated at the launch of Drolor Centre for Strategic Leadership aimed at addressing leadership deficiencies in Ghana and Africa.

Africa is the world's richest continent in terms of natural resources, with half of the world's gold, most of the world's diamonds and chromium, 90 per cent of the cobalt, 40 per cent of the world's potential hydroelectric power, 65 per cent of the manganese, millions of acres of untilled farmland, as well as other natural resources. Despite its natural wealth, Africa is home to the world's most impoverished and abused people.

The centre is intended to become a platform for executive leadership development for Africa's accelerated development by training leaders who understand the consequences of their actions and inactions on current and future generations.

The Chairman of the Ghana's National Peace Council, Professor Emmanuel Asante on his part, described Africa as being in a "mess".

"The challenge of Africa is nothing but the challenge of leadership", said Asante, wondering how African leaders give negative account of their countries to western nations in a bid to curry favour.

He urged Ghana to take up the challenge to provide leadership, as former president Dr Kwame Nkrumah did, to deliver Africa out of economic doldrums.

He argued that Ghana was uniquely positioned due to its international recognition of being an oasis of peace and security in Africa and therefore, has "the pedigree to provide strategic leadership to the continent".

The African continent needs a paradigm shift originating from bold decisions and innovations to turn around the ailing economic fortunes, Professor Joshua Alabi, Vice Chancellor of the University has said.

He expressed the hope that the centre would provide the envisioned strategic leadership that would bring about enough change in leadership for the economic transformation of Africa.