Mahama Urges Africa to Harness Resources for Self-Reliance

In Accra, Ghana, President John Dramani Mahama urged African leaders to abandon dependency on foreign aid and harness the continent's natural resources for self-sustained prosperity during his address at the fourth edition of the African Heritage Awards. The event, held recently, gathered distinguished figures to honor achievements and discuss Africa's path forward amid shifting global dynamics.

Mahama, serving as special guest of honor and chief host, highlighted the need for a fundamental change in how African nations manage investments and endowments like gold, lithium, oil, and gas. He criticized historical practices that granted large concessions to foreign companies, often creating wealth disparities that left local communities without basic services such as clean water. "Africa cannot sit with a cup in hand and go begging," Mahama stated. "One of the major assets we have is what nature gave us. We didn't put the gold in the ground, we didn't put the lithium in the ground, we didn't put the oil and gas in the ground. God gave it to us."

The president pointed to declining official development assistance and rising defense spending in advanced economies as signs of a...