John Dramani Mahama has declared that Ghana and the rest of Africa must abandon dependence and deliberately build their own prosperity, warning that the global order does not automatically favour emerging nations.
Delivering his State of the Nation Address in Parliament in accordance with Article 67 of the Constitution, President Mahama described the moment as a defining one for the country.
“It is both a profound honour and a constitutional duty to appear before this august House to deliver a message on the state of the nation,” he said, reflecting on more than two decades of public service, including his time representing Bole-Bamboi and his previous tenure as President from 2012 to 2017.
Framing his address against what he called a rapidly shifting global order, Mr Mahama cautioned that international systems endure “only as long as they protect the advantages of those who designed them.”
“Once emerging nations like ours begin to compete within these same rules to rebalance power, the very architects of that order prove willing to relax their commitments,” he stated.
He stressed that Ghana cannot afford hesitation or fragmentation in responding to these realities.
“We cannot respond to this new reality with fragmentation, hesitation and continued dependence,” the President said. “Resilience and prosperity will not be handed to us. They must be built deliberately through cooperation, self-belief and strategic alignment.”
Mr Mahama argued that Africa must shift “from a posture of dependence to one of collective self-reliance,” insisting that no single African country can thrive in isolation in the current global environment.
Rather, he said, Africa’s strength lies in its combined markets, youthful population, natural resources and creativity — assets which, if strategically aligned, could constitute “one of the greatest economic opportunities of this century.”
The President also linked economic sovereignty to health sovereignty, referencing a health sovereignty summit hosted in Accra last year, where African leaders discussed new approaches to healthcare financing and collaboration.
“Africa must take ownership of its health security, pool resources, deepen collaboration and design financing solutions that reflect our realities rather than external prescriptions,” he said, adding that “strong economies require healthy populations.”
He affirmed Ghana’s readiness to rebuild domestically while playing a catalytic role on the continent, declaring: “The path forward is clear. Africa must rise with confidence, unity and purpose.”
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