President John Mahama has called for a fundamental shift in Africa’s relationship with the Western world, arguing that the continent must break away from a long-standing dependency syndrome and take greater control of its resources and development.
Speaking in an interview with TRT World monitored by GhanaWeb on Friday, August 21, 2026, he said Africa’s current position in the global system was largely shaped by the post-World War II international order, which, he said, had left the continent dependent on external support.
“Well, it’s born out of reality. Eighty years after the Second World War, the new global order was formed based on multilateralism. And it placed Africa in a situation where we have had a dependency syndrome,” President Mahama said.
According to him, Africa continues to rely heavily on assistance from Western countries while having limited control over the pricing and processing of its natural resources.
“And so we live on the handouts that the West gives us. And then, aside from that, we don’t control our resources. Our resources are bought at prices that are set by the West and exported. And the finished products are sent back to us at prices that are set by the West,” he stated.
President Mahama said the need to address this imbalance was among the issues that informed the organisation of a conference on health sovereignty, aimed at encouraging African countries to become more self-reliant in healthcare.
He explained that the initiative was intended to help African countries build resilient health systems, increase local pharmaceutical production and take greater ownership of their health outcomes.
“And so the whole idea of the research started with the issue of health sovereignty and breaking the dependency syndrome. So we convened a conference here and said, look, I mean, we need to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.
“We must create more resilient health systems. We must produce more of our medications locally in Africa. We must own our health outcomes more ourselves,” he remarked.
The President stressed that Africa was not opposed to international partnerships but insisted that such partnerships must be structured in a way that gives African countries greater control over their development priorities and resources.
“We don’t reject partnerships, but those partnerships must be on our terms. We must have a greater say in what those resources are used for,” he said.
President Mahama said the conversation around health sovereignty had since expanded into a broader discussion about Africa’s position in the global order.
“But then it’s gone a step further because it applies to other things, including the whole global order. I mean, Africa cannot continue to be a dependent continent,” he noted.
He argued that African countries had the capacity to take steps that would strengthen the continent’s influence and give it a stronger voice in international affairs.
“There are things we can do so that we’re able to have a better voice in global affairs,” he said.
The President also rejected the suggestion that a more prosperous and self-reliant Africa would pose a threat to other parts of the world.
“Africa’s prosperity is not a threat to anybody. Indeed, Africa’s prosperity will be a benefit to the whole global economy,” President Mahama said.
He maintained that it was in the interest of the international community for African economies to grow and for countries on the continent to overcome challenges in education, healthcare and economic development.
“And so it’s in the interest of the whole world that Africa prospers and that Africa does well and that we’re able to overcome the challenges that we face in terms of growing economies, in terms of providing education for our people, in terms of healthcare and all that,” he added.
JKB/MA
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