President John Dramani Mahama has cautioned that Africa could miss out on critical development opportunities if countries on the continent fail to deepen cooperation, insisting that unity must translate into concrete action.
Speaking in the Zambian Parliament on Thursday, February 5, Mahama underscored the need for stronger regional collaboration and collective strategies to fast-track economic progress across Africa. He advocated the creation of regional prosperity frameworks, such as joint manufacturing hubs, interconnected power systems, and shared digital infrastructure, to support long-term growth.
According to him, African countries must present a united front in negotiations on minerals, trade, and climate financing, noting that cohesion should serve as a practical development tool rather than a symbolic message.
In his role as the African Union’s champion of African financial institutions, Mahama also encouraged African states to bring back and invest part of the continent’s foreign reserves currently held in Western banks. He argued that redirecting even a fraction of these funds into African financial institutions could unlock substantial capital for infrastructure development and economic expansion.