President John Dramani Mahama has called on African countries to pursue a new path towards economic transformation by moving away from exporting raw materials and importing finished products.
“The time has come for Africa to chart a different course,” he said, stressing the need for the continent to process more of its natural resources locally to create jobs and boost economic growth.
“We must bring part of that processing and value addition into Africa to create jobs for our young people,” he said.
Speaking at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London yesterday, President Mahama said Ghana was targeting an end to raw ore exports by 2030.
“Seventy per cent of gold is now refined locally, and government is expanding the downstream jewellery industry,” he told the summit.
He said the government had also introduced a policy requiring at least 50 per cent of cocoa beans to be processed locally. In the bauxite-aluminium value chain, he identified an alumina refinery as the missing link and invited investors to help establish the facility.
“You cannot have prosperity in the midst of poverty. That itself is a danger to investments,” the President stated.
Accra Reset
On the Accra Reset initiative, President Mahama said it had evolved into a framework for the Global South to reduce dependence on foreign aid and promote economic self-reliance through local production and value addition.
The initiative began as a health-focused response to declining Official Development Assistance (ODA) but has since expanded into a broader agenda for economic transformation.
Its key targets include ending raw mineral exports by 2030, processing at least 50 per cent of cocoa locally and mobilising $20 billion for self-financed development programmes over nine years.
Responding to declining aid
President Mahama said the Accra Reset emerged from necessity after Ghana lost $154 million annually following the withdrawal of funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), including $74 million allocated to healthcare.
“The response to dwindling aid is not to learn how to improve your begging skills,” he said. “You need to respond in a different way,” the President told the summit.
He said the initiative had established a governing council with support from Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), Gavi, the Global Fund and the World Health Organisation.
“You cannot own the outcome when you are not part of the decision-making. We must have some control,” he said.
Call for Western investment
President Mahama urged Western investors to reconsider their cautious approach towards Africa, arguing that the continent offered attractive investment opportunities.
“It is to their own disadvantage if investors are still skittish about Africa. The returns are good, and everybody is coming. The Indians are there, the Chinese are there,” he said.
He criticised what he described as the slow decision-making process of some Western investors.
“The typical Western investor comes with a notebook and asks, ‘Do they have an independent judiciary? Is the media free?’ By the time you get to the fifth point, the Chinese have invested and the Indians have invested.”
Reaffirming Ghana’s non-aligned foreign policy, he said: “We are friends to all and enemies to none.”
The President also announced that Ghana had successfully completed its International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and transitioned to a Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI).
“It is not a bailout. It does not come with any financing, and so a lot of that financing is being provided by ourselves,” he explained.
He said the Reset Agenda included amendments to the Public Financial Management Act and the Procurement Act, as well as the establishment of a Fiscal Responsibility Council, to improve public financial management and free up resources for investment.
The government is implementing a $10-billion Big Push infrastructure programme over five years, while the Finance Minister is expected to launch a separate $10-billion new economy plan spanning four years.
The latter programme targets nine job-rich sectors, including tourism, energy, agriculture, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals and textiles.
Despite global disruptions, President Mahama said inflation had fallen to about five per cent, supported by a stable currency and declining interest rates.
“The economy is holding steady,” he said.
Financial system and Africa’s debt burden
President Mahama criticised the international financial system, arguing that its structure placed African countries at a disadvantage.
“The global order was rigged against Africa.
“We borrow at eight times the interest rates at which Western nations borrow. Sometimes, we borrow to ameliorate the effects of climate change, which we did not create,” he said.
He said Africa contributed four per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions but had to borrow at significantly higher costs to address the effects of climate change.
The President also highlighted the continent’s financial outflows, saying about $80 billion left Africa annually through interest payments and debt repayments, while another $90 billion was lost through illicit financial flows. He added that ODA declined by 23.5 per cent in 2025.
“Africa is a very resilient continent… I wonder how Europe would have survived under those conditions, yet Africa is still on the map,” he said.
Reparations and the Global South
On reparations for slavery, President Mahama said a simple financial settlement would not adequately address centuries of brutality, forced labour and other abuses.
“It is uncharitable to think that a simple payoff is the response,” he said, citing a United Nations General Assembly vote in which 123 countries supported recognising slavery as the gravest crime against humanity.
He noted that Germany, France and other countries had opened discussions on the issue.
“We call it repair. It begins with acceptance,” he said, citing the return of artefacts as part of the process.
“Those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are bound to repeat them,” he warned.
He added: “A strong Global South is not a threat to the West. A strong Global South is an advantage.”
Background
The Financial Times Africa Summit is an annual platform that brings together African leaders, policymakers, investors, business executives and entrepreneurs to discuss the continent’s economic and geopolitical future.
Organised by the Financial Times of London, the summit is regarded as an important link between African leadership and international capital.
The 2026 edition, the 13th, was held under the theme “Mobilising Growth in a New Global Order”. Discussions focused on changing trade patterns, domestic capital mobilisation and stronger regional markets amid shifts in the global economy.
The summit attracted prominent figures, including President Mahama, alongside business leaders such as Aliko Dangote and Mo Ibrahim.
