Former Deputy Transport Minister and Member of Parliament for Tema East, Daniel Titus Nii Kwartei Glover, has called for greater economic integration across Africa, arguing that the continent’s growing population should be leveraged to boost intra-African trade and development.

He said Africa’s demographic strength represents a major opportunity that has not been fully utilised, particularly in the area of trade among African countries.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Monday, April 6, Mr Glover highlighted the continent’s rapid population growth as evidence of its economic potential.

He noted that Africa’s population, which stood at about 1.34 billion in 2020, had risen to around 1.43 billion and is currently estimated to be between 1.48 billion and 1.5 billion in 2026.

“The population of Africa today, as of 2020, was 1.34 billion. It ran up to 1.43, then currently in 2026, it's between 1.48 and 1.5,” he said.

According to him, despite this significant population base, African countries are not doing enough to trade effectively among themselves and take advantage of their collective numbers.

“So when you look at this population, and we cannot take advantage of our numbers to trade among ourselves, I think there's a difficulty,” he said.

Mr Glover linked his argument to the Pan-African vision championed by Ghana’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who advocated for closer political and economic integration across the continent.

He further noted that when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah first advanced the idea of African integration, many countries did not fully appreciate its importance. According to him, there was also concern among some major global powers that a more united Africa could reduce their ability to benefit from the continent’s resources.

Mr Glover believes African countries must deepen integration and strengthen trade among themselves to fully harness the continent’s rapidly growing population and economic potential.