President Mahama Calls for Regional Manufacturing Hubs, Vaccine Production to Transform Africa

Africa must create regional manufacturing hubs, produce their own vaccines and medicines, and pool their negotiating power on critical minerals to capture value and create millions of jobs.

President John Dramani Mahama who made this call at the Davos Convening of the Accra Reset Initiative on Thursday, outlined a vision for economic transformation that moves Africa from resource extraction to value addition and industrial production.

“What if we built regional manufacturing hubs that create millions of jobs for our young people? What if we produced our own vaccines, our own medicines, our own technology?” President Mahama asked, emphasizing that these are not rhetorical questions but practical goals that African countries must pursue.

The President stressed that no African country can industrialize alone, making regional cooperation essential for creating the scale and infrastructure needed for competitive manufacturing.

“No African country can industrialise alone. We must create regional prosperity platforms, manufacturing zones, energy grids, and digital infrastructure that give our businesses scale and our workers opportunity,” he stated.

President Mahama called for African nations to negotiate as one on critical issues, arguing that when countries bargain separately they remain weak, but when they negotiate together on minerals, trade, and climate finance, they become formidable.

“When we bargain separately, we’re weak. When we negotiate together on minerals, trade, and climate finance, we’re formidable. Unity should not be a slogan; it must be the strategy,” he declared.

He emphasized that Africa must exercise more sovereignty over natural resources to create prosperity for its people, and that pooling negotiating power on critical minerals would enable the continent to capture value rather than just extract raw ore.

The President argued that from vaccines to semiconductors to solar panels, if Africa doesn’t manufacture these products locally, the continent will always remain dependent on those who do, making industrial policy essential for survival.

“From vaccines to semiconductors to solar panels, if we don’t make it, we’ll always be dependent on someone who does. Industrial policy isn’t old-fashioned. It is what will make us survive,” he stated.

President Mahama outlined five key priorities for African transformation: investing in skills that match real jobs in the real economy, building together through regional cooperation, negotiating as one, producing at home, and holding governments accountable to their people.

On skills development, he called for focus not just on education but on digital skills, green energy skills, and manufacturing skills that will enable a generation of young Africans to build rather than just consume.

The President disclosed that the Accra Reset Initiative is building the architecture for creating Prosperity Spheres across regional platforms where countries coordinate on investment, infrastructure, and jobs.

He emphasized that the vision is not a talk shop or declaration but a practical blueprint for how countries can work together to build real sovereignty that can be measured in jobs created, children vaccinated, and young people thriving.

President Mahama pointed to Ghana’s domestic reforms as evidence that the approach works, noting that his government is training young people for the jobs of tomorrow, not yesterday, while renegotiating debt to free up resources for investment in people.

“This is the Resetting Ghana agenda. And it’s working because we stopped talking about transformation and started building it. Now imagine this same approach across Africa and the global south,” he stated.

The President called on every leader who believes in a world where prosperity is shared, who believes the Global South deserves partnership rather than pity, and who believes the next chapter of human progress will be written in African cities to join the initiative.

“The Accra Reset is not seeking permission. We’re building momentum. From New York last September to this room in Davos, and to the African Union in Addis Ababa next month, and soon the Oslo Dialogues,” he declared.

The Davos Convening brought together current and former African leaders as part of the Presidential Council and Guardians Circle of the Accra Reset, with strategic partners including the African Development Bank, Global Fund, AfroChampions, Georgetown University, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Richard Aniagyei, ISD