Mahama tells UN Africa will refine its own minerals and wants finance rules changed

Pinned summary · as of 06:33

President John Dramani Mahama used his address to the 81st UN General Assembly on 24 September 2026 to declare that Africa will no longer be a bystander in the contest over the minerals that clean-energy technology depends on. He said the continent intends to add value to those resources locally and called for changes to the global financial system.

What we know

• Mr Mahama told world leaders at the UN General Assembly on 24 September that Africa would not stay a passive field for outside powers competing over its critical minerals.
• He argued that mining in Africa should not echo the exploitation of the colonial period, and said minerals would be processed on the continent to support local industry and employment for young people.
• The president called for the global financial system to be overhauled, saying developing countries are put at a disadvantage by how it works, and that African states need lasting, affordable and easily obtained concessional funding.
• Mr Mahama said Africa is looking for a partnership of equals rather than charity or hand-outs.
• The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has its base in Accra, Ghana.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Opemsuo 104.7 reported that Mr Mahama put the borrowing cost for developing countries at up to eight times what industrialised countries pay; no other report carries this figure.
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  According to Opemsuo 104.7, the president described AfCFTA as the driver of trade among African countries and of industrial growth, and said developing countries take on heavy debt to recover from climate disasters they did not cause. These remarks have not been reported elsewhere.
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  The Vaultz News reported that Mr Mahama tied the plundering of natural resources to a wider collapse of the rules-based international order, warned of a drift towards unilateralism and power politics, and said foreign interference threatens stability in resource-rich regions. Other reports do not mention these points.
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  The Vaultz News also said the president declared that the period when foreign countries take raw materials without helping build local capacity is over, and that global governance bodies must be reformed to suit present-day realities. Other reports have not confirmed this.

Why it matters for Ghana

The question of who processes Africa's minerals and keeps the profit bears directly on jobs for young Ghanaians and on public revenue. The president's call for cheaper long-term financing touches the cost of government borrowing and the room to fund roads, schools and factories. Ghana's role as home to the AfCFTA secretariat also puts it at the centre of the continental trade push he described.