The Big Ideas that we must implement for Africa to thrive.

There is no doubt that Africa is the richest continent in terms of natural resources. However, it has the highest poverty rates in the world. This is the curse of Africa. Here is what needs to be done.

1. Create a single unifying language.
Right now, we use colonial languages to communicate. It's probably the reason why we are not going far. We are divided between Francophone Africa, using French as the official language and looking up to France, and Anglophone Africa using English and looking up to UK and the United States. This creates a wedge and we do not share among ourselves. Only Tanzania is trying, using the local Kiswahili dialect. In Tanzania, even the elites and government Ministers use Kiswahili. This is unlike other African countries where the villagers use common local dialects while the elites use English or French.

2. A Pan African Media.
We consume all our international media from the West. When I want to know what's happening in Nigeria, I will get the news from Reuters, CNN, or BBC. The Western media has not been giving Africa fair coverage, and stereotypes of war, poverty, and disease are endemic. Is it any surprise why a fellow African is likely to believe that a Nigerian is a fraudster or a black South African is lazy?

3. A Development Bank
For Africa to unite, it must be interconnected. We need big infrastructure projects to open up the continent. Who is going to finance the building of the road from Cape Town in South Africa to Cairo in Egypt? Who is going to build the dam that is going to generate electricity from River Congo for the whole of Africa? The IMF and World Bank will screw us, as they have done before, China is going to saddle us with debts until we become their colony.

4. A Single Currency.
Our currencies are too fragile and subject to manipulation. We use the dollar, Euro, or Sterling Pound to trade with each other and this does not bode well for us. Intra African trade is just 10 percent, compared to 60 percent intra Europe trade, and 50 percent intra North America trade.