4th February 2026
At the Africa Trade Summit 2026 in Accra, Ghana, President John Dramani Mahama called on governments, businesses, and financial institutions to accelerate industrialization and value addition to strengthen Africa’s global economic position, create jobs, and achieve economic sovereignty. The two-day, private sector–led summit, held from January 28 to 29 and organized by the African Trade Chamber and its partners, focused on advancing intra-African trade, industrialization, and implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Mahama stressed that industrialization could not be driven by government alone, highlighting the need for policy stability, reliable infrastructure, skills development, and long-term financing to support private sector investment. He warned that Africa’s reliance on exporting raw materials while importing finished goods had left the continent vulnerable to external shocks and trapped in low-value economic activities, describing the model as a neo-colonial structure that perpetuated underdevelopment. He emphasized that political independence without economic transformation was incomplete and urged a shift toward beneficiation, industrial processing, and diversified production.
Echoing these views, Sam Jonah, chairman of the Advisory Board of the Africa Trade Chamber, urged African countries to adopt a deliberate inward-looking strategy focused on building domestic industrial capacity, arguing that industrialization was essential for resilience in a changing global economy. He and other speakers, including UNIDO deputy director-general Fatou Haidara, emphasized that the AfCFTA would only deliver meaningful growth if trade liberalization was matched with industrial production, value addition, and the development of integrated regional value chains supported by infrastructure, energy, finance, and investment-ready projects.