President John Dramani Mahama has launched a bold call for African self-reliance and collective action, warning that the global governance system established after World War II is breaking down and that Africa must position itself to shape the emerging world order.
Speaking at the Davos Convening of the Accra Reset Initiative on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, President Mahama said Africa could no longer depend on shrinking global aid, fragmented bilateral relations, and external control over its resources, stressing that the continent must “build its own capacity to act”.
He noted that bilateral relations are becoming increasingly transactional, while multilateral cooperation is weakening amid rising global conflict and uncertainty.
Against this backdrop, Mahama argued that Africa must secure a seat at the table in defining the next global system rather than remaining a passive recipient of decisions made elsewhere.
Reflecting on Ghana’s own journey since independence, which marks its 70th anniversary next year, the President acknowledged decades of political upheaval, economic shocks and external dependency.
He said those experiences underline the urgency of a new development path anchored in sovereignty, value creation and regional cooperation.
Mahama highlighted what he described as Ghana’s recent economic turnaround, citing stabilised macroeconomic conditions, single-digit inflation, a strengthened currency and renewed business confidence following debt renegotiation and fiscal discipline. However, he cautioned that Ghana’s progress would be meaningless if it stood alone.
“Ghana cannot be a jewel in the dirt,” he said, calling for African countries to knit together individual success stories into a continent-wide transformation agenda.
At the centre of his address was what he termed Africa’s “triple dependency,” reliance on external actors for security decisions, donor funding for health and education systems, and the export of critical minerals without capturing value through processing and manufacturing.
President Mahama proposed the Accra Reset as a practical blueprint rather than a declaration, urging African nations and Global South partners to coordinate industrial policy, pool negotiating power on critical minerals, and build regional manufacturing hubs capable of creating millions of jobs.
He also called for renewed investment in skills development, local production of vaccines and medicines, and stronger accountability in governance, arguing that corruption and waste undermine Africa’s case for partnership and investment.
“The pandemic of unfulfilled potential is Africa’s greatest crisis,” Mahama said, pointing to high youth unemployment, fragile health systems and extractive economies that fail to generate lasting prosperity.
Concluding his remarks, the President invited global partners to join what he described as a partnership based on mutual respect rather than charity, insisting that the future of shared global prosperity could be shaped in African capitals if leaders show the courage to act collectively.
Source: myxyzonline.com
