The Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, Paul Apraku Twum Barimah, will moderate a panel discussio at the 2023 edition of the Africa Development Conference at the Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States of America.

The event which is scheduled for April 15 and 16, 2023, will be under the theme “Reimagining Africa’s Growth on Our Terms”.  The Ghanaian lawmaker is scheduled to moderate discussions on “Transitioning into a Green Economy, Opportunities and Challenges at the conference”.

Some notable Ghanaian political leaders like John Dramani Mahama, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, John Agyekum Kufuor, among others have been invited to participate in this conference in the past years. President Akufo-Addo in 2019 spoke at the Harvard Africa Development Conference.

In his key note address, President Akufo Addo said Africa’s huge population of young people will either be a major advantage or a heavy burden, depending on whether African governments can come up with a “strategy to reap the demographic dividend”.

He said Africa’s economy is “on the edge of a breakthrough,” but only if there are “systematic investments” in human capital similar to those made in Asian countries that have become economic success stories such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Among other steps to “invest in empowerment education and employment” of young people, Akufo-Addo said lawmakers in Ghana are working on legislation to make kindergarten through high school education compulsory.

With over 40% of its working population between the ages of 15 and 24, Africa is the youngest continent in the world.

The Africa Development Conference is a student-led event that convenes academia, students, and practitioners to highlight and explore critical issues related to the African continent’s development.

The Conference will have panels, fireside chats and keynote speeches on topics including how Africa can thrive in international trade, challenges and opportunities in transitioning to a green economy, the role of creative arts in development, the Africa we want, and other engaging topics.

Paul Twum Barimah is a board member of the Bui Dam Authority and the Ghana Publishing Corporation. He is also a member of the Parliamentary Committee on, Energy and Foreign Affairs and also serves on Parliament Poverty Reduction Strategy Committee.