Global Trade uncertainty: JM charges African countries to mobilize revenue locally
John Dramani Mahama, president of Ghana, says the time has come for Africa countries to mobilize revenue internally.
This call comes on the back of the rising tariffs and growing uncertainty in Global Trade.
According to him, leveraging local markets by prioritizing domestic and regional trade will promote economic resilience.
“After the second World War, we agreed that a Multi- lateral rule based trading system was a better way to go and so a lot of work was done by the World Trade Organization together with all our countries to set up the rules for trade amongst ourselves.
Unfortunately, that system is being upended, and the countries have decided to impose tariffs based on their own interests, and so we have transitioned into a transactional world. It sends a signal to Africa that we need to pull ourselves out by our bootstraps because there is not going to be a free dinner anywhere. And that means that we must one mobilize revenue locally, ” he stressed.
Speaking at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Africa Development Bank held in Cote D’Ivoire on 27th May, 2024, he emphasized the need for value addition to Africa’s natural resources.
“We must add value to our products and we must get a better share for the natural resource endowment that God has given us” he added.
