National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has urged African leaders to back their speeches on economic development with concrete action, arguing that the continent’s progress depends on competent governance, industrialisation and economic self-reliance rather than rhetoric.Speaking at the 3rd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the International Movement for the Freedom of Nations in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 25, 2026, Mr Nketiah said Africa’s struggle against neocolonialism could only be won by building strong institutions, expanding industrial capacity, embracing technology and strengthening regional integration.“The struggle against neocolonialism cannot ultimately be won through rhetoric alone. It will be won through competent governance, industrial capacity, technological capability, effective regional integration and the ability of states to negotiate from positions of confidence rather than dependency,” he said.According to him, true economic freedom would be achieved when African countries create value from their resources instead of merely exporting raw materials, become producers rather than consumers of technology and develop institutions capable of translating political sovereignty into economic prosperity.“The task before us is to ensure that sovereignty is matched by capability and that freedom is matched by common prosperity for our nations,” he added.Mr Nketiah invoked the words of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, saying the warning that political independence without economic independence would remain incomplete is even more relevant today.“More than six decades ago, Dr Kwame Nkrumah warned that political independence without economic independence would be incomplete. Time has not diminished the relevance of that observation. If anything, the changing nature of power has made it even more relevant,” he said.He also criticised what he described as an unequal global economic order, arguing that countries that shape the rules governing finance, trade, technology, intellectual property and investment wield influence that often surpasses conventional measures of power.Mr Nketiah called for reforms to international institutions to give developing countries a greater role in shaping global rules rather than merely complying with them.“The issue is not simply whether developing countries are present when decisions are made. The issue is whether they participate meaningfully in shaping the rules by which those decisions are made,” he said.He warned that an international system in which a few nations consistently write the rules while others are expected to follow them cannot claim to reflect genuine equality among sovereign states.“Whether we succeed in that endeavour will determine not only the future of Africa, but also the character of the international order that future generations inherit,” Mr Nketiah said.