President John Dramani Mahama has delivered a strong message against Africa’s long-standing dependence on foreign aid, insisting that the continent must end the culture of “begging” and take responsibility for its own development.
Reflecting on his address to the Zambian Parliament on Thursday, February 6, President Mahama said Africa can no longer rely on dwindling humanitarian assistance and must urgently chart a self-sustaining path.
“Humanitarian assistance has gone down. Africa cannot continue going cup in hand begging for that kind of support. We need to pull ourselves together,” he said in an interview with Joy News on Friday.
Ghana’s President explained that his speech was deliberately crafted to challenge African leaders to rethink the continent’s development model and embrace the principles of the Accra Reset, which promotes unity, regional cooperation, and collective action.
“I chose to give a speech that rallies Africa together based on the objectives of the Accra Reset so that we can come together and make collective decisions,” Mahama stated.
According to the President, Africa’s future lies in deeper collaboration, particularly in trade, natural resource management and coordinated economic planning. He argued that by working together, African countries can stabilise their economies, strengthen their global bargaining power and reduce dependence on external support.
President Mahama stressed that self-reliance and unity are essential if Africa is to break free from aid dependency and take full control of its destiny in the global system.
