President John Dramani Mahama has issued a stark warning about Africa’s continued economic subjugation, declaring that despite political independence, the continent remains trapped in systems that function as “new colonial slavery.”
In his recent interview with YouTuber Wode Maya, President Mahama offered an incisive critique of the global economic order, highlighting how trade systems born in colonial times continue to constrain African development. The president’s comments come at a time when African nations are grappling with how to assert greater control over their natural resources and economic destiny.
Mahama warned that the current world order is “rigged against Africa,” pointing to trade structures that force the continent to export raw materials and import finished goods. It’s a familiar pattern, yet one that persists decades after independence flags were raised across the continent. The president didn’t mince words about who controls the pricing mechanisms that determine Africa’s economic fate.
“These are all the kinds of things that we need to look at,” Mahama said, describing how European importers determine cocoa and gold pricing, even though those resources are grown and mined in Africa. The irony wasn’t lost on him: nations rich in natural wealth remain poor because they can’t set the value of their own commodities.
The president’s assessment reveals a sobering reality about sovereignty in the modern era. Mahama argued that despite political independence, many African nations remain “new colonial slaves” under systems that deny sovereignty over pricing, standards, and trade routes. This lack of control extends beyond economics into matters of regulatory authority and market access.
However, Mahama sees potential pathways forward. He invoked the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a promising framework, though he was quick to add important caveats about the challenges ahead. The AfCFTA, which officially commenced trading in January 2021, aims to create a single market across 1.3 billion people and represents one of the world’s most ambitious trade agreements.
Yet promises on paper don’t automatically translate to economic transformation. “If we do not harmonize our standards, we cannot fully utilize the potential that AfCFTA gives us,” the president cautioned. It’s not just about removing tariff barriers; success requires alignment on product standards, quality controls, and regulatory frameworks that currently vary widely across the 54 African Union member states.
Infrastructure deficits pose another major obstacle. Mahama emphasized the need for infrastructure including railways, ports, and roads to enable intra-African commerce. His questions were pointed and practical: “Where are the railways to move those goods? Where are the ports to move those goods?”
These aren’t rhetorical flourishes. Currently, it’s often easier and cheaper to ship goods from Accra to Europe than from Accra to neighboring Abidjan, highlighting the absurdity of trade networks still oriented toward former colonial powers rather than regional integration.
The president’s message was clear: until the logistics and standards systems are fixed, Africa cannot seize its rightful place in global markets. This isn’t about seeking handouts or special treatment, but rather about creating the conditions for fair competition and genuine economic sovereignty.
Mahama’s critique resonates with broader conversations happening across the continent about economic independence and self determination. While Africa holds significant portions of the world’s mineral wealth, agricultural potential, and youngest population, translating these assets into prosperity requires fundamental restructuring of inherited economic systems.
The interview underscores a persistent tension in African development: how to break free from extractive economic relationships while building the infrastructure and institutions needed for genuine integration and industrialization. It’s a challenge that requires both regional cooperation through initiatives like AfCFTA and individual national reforms to develop value addition capabilities.
Whether African nations can successfully pivot from resource extraction to manufacturing and services, and from fragmented markets to continental integration, remains one of the defining questions for the continent’s future. President Mahama’s frank assessment suggests the path forward requires more than good intentions; it demands concrete investments in infrastructure, harmonized standards, and most fundamentally, the political will to challenge and change an inherited global order.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
