President John Dramani Mahama has challenged global investors to abandon the long-held perception of Africa as a high-risk destination and embrace the continent as the world’s most consequential growth frontier, telling a gathering of business leaders and policymakers in London that those who waited too long to engage would miss the opportunity of their generation.
In his address at the 12th Africa Debates at the Guildhall in London, President Mahama said the next phase of global growth would not be driven solely by mature economies.
Africa, he argued, with its expanding population, growing urbanisation, rising consumption, and untapped productive capacity, was where the real opportunity lay.
“Africa is not a risk to be managed. Africa is an opportunity to be seized,” he told the gathering.
He pointed to a series of facts to back the case. Africa was home to the world’s youngest population.
“By 2051, one in every four people on earth would be African. The continent held vast reserves of cobalt, lithium, manganese, copper, bauxite, and rare earth elements, the very materials the global energy transition depended on.
“And the African Continental Free Trade Area, the largest free trade area in the world by number of participating countries, was already creating new openings for industrialisation, manufacturing, and intra-African trade,” he emphasised.
President Mahama said even amid global uncertainty, Africa had continued to demonstrate resilience, remaining one of the world’s fastest-growing regions while many advanced economies struggled with stagnation.
He used Ghana as his primary evidence. When he took office in January 2025, the country was dealing with high inflation, a sharply depreciated cedi, weakened investor confidence, and a painful debt restructuring process.
In 18 months, he said, the economy had been turned around: inflation had fallen, the cedi had found stability, fiscal position had improved, international reserves had strengthened, and credit rating agencies had revised Ghana’s outlook positively.
He said Ghana was now repositioning itself as a productive economy built on industrialisation, agro-processing, exports, logistics, and digital transformation, and that the government was investing in roads, railways, ports, energy reliability, aviation, digital infrastructure, and skills development to make that repositioning real.
“For investors gathered here today, Ghana offers political stability, democratic continuity, strategic geographical access to the West African sub-region, and a government that is committed to reform and private sector growth,” he said.
President Mahama said the world was at a moment of profound transition, with trade systems shifting, geopolitical alliances evolving, supply chains being reconfigured, and development finance shrinking.
In that context, he said, Africa was not a passive observer but a decisive force shaping the future global economy, and the investors who recognised that early would be the ones who benefitted most.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
