By Celestine Avi and Seth Eyiah
President John Mahama has urged global partners to engage Africa on the basis of fairness and mutual benefit, stressing that the continent is no longer interested in aid-driven narratives but in structured partnerships that deliver shared prosperity.
Speaking at the 12th Africa Debates held at London’s Guildhall, President Mahama said Africa rejects outdated perceptions that position it as a continent in perpetual need of rescue, insisting instead that it is an emerging force for growth, innovation, and global transformation.
“Africa does not seek sympathy. Africa seeks partnerships, fair partnerships, strategic partnerships, mutually beneficial partnerships,” he stated.
He said the era in which Africa served primarily as a supplier of raw materials to fuel industrialisation elsewhere must give way to a new model anchored on value addition, technology transfer, skills development, infrastructure investment, and industrial expansion.
According to him, Africa must be enabled to benefit fully from its own resources rather than remaining trapped in a cycle where it exports raw materials cheaply and imports finished goods at significantly higher costs.
“Africa must no longer be seen as an exporter of raw materials, only to import finished products at significantly higher cost,” he said.
President Mahama further argued that the global financial system remains structurally imbalanced, with African countries continuing to face disproportionately high borrowing costs despite their strong growth potential and resource endowment.
He also raised concerns over unmet climate finance commitments to developing countries and persistent trade barriers that continue to limit African access to global markets.
He called for faster, fairer, and more inclusive debt restructuring frameworks, alongside reforms to global governance institutions to better reflect Africa’s growing demographic and economic weight.
Highlighting the continent’s strengths, the President noted that Africa is home to the world’s youngest population, projecting that by 2051, one in every four people globally will be African.
He also pointed to Africa’s vast deposits of critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, manganese, copper, bauxite, and rare earth elements, which are central to the global energy transition.
President Mahama further cited the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a historic opportunity to drive industrialisation, expand manufacturing, and boost intra-African trade, describing it as a practical pathway to long-term economic transformation.
He stressed that Africa’s progress is already visible and accelerating, even amid global economic uncertainty.
“Africa is not waiting to be rescued. Africa is building. Africa is innovating and transforming,” he emphasised.
