Mr. John Mahama, Former President of Ghana on Tuesday appealed to the Nigeria Government to open up her border so that economic activities can resume in West Africa. Mahama made the plea while delivering the 7th Anniversary Lecture, Investiture into The Realnews Hall of Fame and The unveiling of the Book: Pathways to Political and Economic Development of Africa in Lagos. The title of the lecture is 'Beyond Politics: An Economic Narrative for West Africa'. He said that the total closure of, especially, the Benin border was having a significant toll on many small and medium businesses especially in Togo, Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire that relied on inter-country trade. Mahama said as a former Chairman of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), and Authority of Heads of State and Government, he had an abiding interest in the progress of ECOWAS and its people. The former president noted that the uptake of science and technology in all sectors of our economies would allow Africa to leapfrog its development. He noted that it was not by accident that Nigeria was home to the headquarters of the ECOWAS and the largest economy in West Africa. He noted that Africa need not go through all the stages of industrialization that the developed countries went through. Mahama stated that biotechnology and tissue culture would allow us to multiply agricultural productivity tenfold. He said the use of innovation would allow the continent to increase productivity and free more people from back-breaking labor and allow them to pursue careers in services, tourism, and the arts.