The Executive Chairman of JL Holdings, Dr. James Orleans-Lindsay has announced plans to break ground in September 2026 on Ghana’s first-ever 15-Minute City.

According to him, the 15-Minute City will be a modern urban project in Accra that integrates work, living, and lifestyle into a compact and eco-conscious community.

Delivering a keynote speech at the Africa Rising Symposium organised by EMY Africa and hosted at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Dr. Orleans Lindsay said the 15-Minute City will reflect a global shift toward liveable, walkable city, and affirm his belief that Africa must not follow but lead in innovation.

“This simply is a city where everything from workplace, banking, hospitals and restaurants, among other amenities, are within a 15 minutes bike ride. It’s also to cement my believe in building sustainability and promoting the green environment,” he said.

Dr. Orleans-Lindsay, who is also the President of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association disclosed that through JL Plantations, he has invested in AI-powered water and pest management systems to revolutionize agricultural yields in Ghana.

“As the Founder and Executive Chairman of J.L Plantations we have integrated A.I into our fold by investing in Irrigoptimal, a Maltese digital company that assists us to forecast our water usage 3 days ahead and which also monitors pests to prevent diseases thus improving our yield,” he stated.

As the 2024 EMY Africa Man of the Year, Dr. Lindsay stood before an audience of influential professionals, academics, and students, many of whom were diaspora Africans.

His speech challenged entrenched cultural norms, political stagnation, and institutional inefficiencies that he believes continue to stunt Africa’s progress.

He bemoaned a culture in which laws exist but are rarely enforced due to fear of retribution or societal norms that discourage punishment.

“No one holds a machete over the heads of our officials to stop them from applying planning laws, yet they won’t act,” he said.

He called on leaders, especially Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, to embrace the rule of law as a transformative tool, saying, “apply the law consistently, and Ghana can be turned around in 24 months.”

He criticized African systems that often value silence, submission, and age-based authority over innovation and independent thinking.