The Executive Chairman of Jospong Group, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, has urged African leaders to find African solutions for the continent’s development instead of depending on other regions.
He said Africa has the answers to its own problems and called on leaders to unite and drive national growth.
Speaking at the opening of the Africa Forward Summit at the University of Nairobi in Nairobi, Kenya, Dr Agyepong rejected what he described as a mindset that keeps Africans struggling to access capital markets under restrictive conditions.
“Why should Africa export her problems when she can build industries to solve them? Why does Africa not have access to capital markets without tough conditions and restrictions? And why has Africa not yet fully utilised and harnessed the wealth of natural resources and human capital available to her?” he asked, presenting the three questions that have guided every decision he has made.
The two-day summit, co-hosted by Kenya’s President William Ruto and France’s President Emmanuel Macron, marked the first Africa-France summit co-chaired with an English-speaking African nation.
Under the theme “To Build Together,” the gathering includes seven thematic pillars ranging from energy transition and AI to blue economy and reform of the international financial architecture.
Dr Agyepong revealed his humble beginnings, growing up with 16 siblings and selling goods at lorry stations and doing whatever he could to survive.
“My initial capital of $3 from my mother as investment launched me into the world of entrepreneurship, birthing resilience and enthusiasm,” he said.
From those footsteps, he told the audience, the Jospong Group has grown into a conglomerate with dozens of subsidiaries across Africa, operating in 29 countries.
Addressing the summit’s focus on financial growth through entrepreneurship in waste management, he said each person generates about 0.6 kilogrammes of waste every day.
He noted that 20 years ago in Ghana, Accra faced serious flooding and sanitation challenges as waste clogged drains and created public health risks.
That crisis, he indicated, led to the development of a concept built on one key principle: sustainable financing for waste management.
“What Africa lacks is not ideas. It lacks sustainable financing structures,” he said adding that “At Jospong, we have developed a sustainable financing model that operates independently of sovereign guarantees and reduces the burden on governments.”
“Today, the company operates in 29 countries and provides solutions in wastewater treatment, solid waste management, hazardous waste, and medical waste. It is among the largest waste management companies on the continent, with 40 to 50 treatment and recycling plants and a dedicated academy to train professionals and build local capacity,” he said.
According to the Executive Chairman of Jopsong Group, Africa generates hundreds of millions of tonnes of waste every year, yet only about four per cent was recycled.
“That is not just a statistic. It represents opportunity. It represents jobs, industries, and value waiting to be unlocked,” he said.
“We have developed the systems, the equipment and the expertise to turn waste into a resource. What we are calling for now is partnership. We invite financial institutions, development partners and investors to join us in building an African solution to African challenges.”
Turning to global finance, Dr Agyepong urged investors to rethink how they assess risk.
“Long-term capital put into African circular economy businesses generates returns that short-term models simply cannot match. In waste management, demand never goes down. Investing here is not being generous. It is building a long-term partnership with a continent.”
President Ruto said Kenya has positioned sports as a pillar of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, stressing that Africa’s youth population of over one billion under 35 is a historic opportunity to build a dynamic sports economy.
“Sports can no longer be viewed as recreation alone. It is industry, infrastructure, investment, culture, diplomacy, technology, tourism, and jobs,” he said.
BY TIMES REPORTER
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