National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula has emphasised the need for African countries to jointly address the challenges currently facing the continent.
He said the lack of solidarity among African nations has been a significant contributor to the continent's sluggish development years after independence.
"Africa has lots of challenges and unless we are able to have a fair share of global trade we will still depend on international countries that we have been relying on," Wetang'ula said.
He spoke on Wednesday when he met Ghanaian High Commissioner Damptey Bediako Asare who paid him a courtesy visit in his office at Parliament Buildings.
The Speaker challenged African states to devise solutions that will promote development, something he said must begin with the countries embracing each other.
While quoting Prof Ali Mazrui, Wetang'ula said Africa is the only continent that produces what it doesn't consume and consumes what it does not produce.
"We are full of foreign products from other continents and we are busy shipping out our raw materials for it to go and be worked on and be brought back to Africa," he said.
Wetang'ula said Africa's share of the global market is below five per cent yet the continent boasts of dozens of raw materials and a population of over one billion people.
"It is worrying to note that in Africa, we have the highest concentration of raw materials in almost everything from minerals, hydro capacity, arable land and even brilliant people yet we are still very poor."
According to the Speaker, it is crucial for African nations to collaborate and collectively tackle their shared problems.
He said other than raw materials, Africa is a rich reservoir of talent having produced exceptional leaders and notable sports personalities who have made a mark in the West.
"We produced the former American President, Barack Obama, former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng whose origin is from Ghana. We now have the UK Prime Minister whose parents were born in my hometown of Kitale among many others," Wetang'ula said.
He said this show of class fails to hold back home in Africa due to lack of collaboration and unity among the continent's countries.
The speaker strongly advocated for the spirit of pan-Africanism where Africa solves her own problems and secures her rightful position in the global arena through a united front.
Wetang’ula expressed his desire for African Parliaments to exercise reciprocal visits to strengthen their collaborative ties.
"Although parliaments in small European countries such as Hungary and Poland have established friendly relations with Kenya, there appears to be a lack of similar friendships between Kenya and other African nations like Ghana," he said.
