By Biodun Busari

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo has urged his African counterparts to stop begging for loans from the West so that the continent can earn global respect.

Akufo-Addo said the African countries will change the poor perceptions that the developed countries have about the continent if they stop begging, Africa News reports.

Ghanaian president made this known during his opening remarks of the ongoing US-African Leaders Summit in Washington on Tuesday.

He advocated that the resources in Africa should be spent on the continent to make it prosperous and get respect.

“If we stop being beggars and spend African money inside the continent, Africa will not need to ask for respect from anyone, we will get the respect we deserve. If we make it prosperous as it should be, respect will follow,” said Akufo-Addo.

Akufo-Addo’s admonition came on the day that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to give Ghana a $3bn (£2.4bn) loan to alleviate an unprecedented economic downturn in his country.

Already burdened by high debt, Ghana faces historic inflation of more than 40% and a fall in the value of its currency – the cedi – economic difficulties worsened since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Nearly 50 African leaders and delegates are in Washington DC for a key summit hosted by President Joe Biden.

It is the centrepiece of a major effort to rearrange and improve US ties with African countries, whose relations with China and Russia have drawn scrutiny.