President Mahama Calls for Bold Financing to Drive Africa’s Industrialisation at Maiden Africa Trade Summit

President John Dramani Mahama has called for urgent, bold, and coordinated action to finance Africa’s industrialisation, warning that political independence without economic transformation remains incomplete. Delivering the keynote address at the maiden Africa Trade Summit 2026 in Accra on Wednesday, 28th January, 2026 Mahama said Africa stood at a historic turning point and could no longer sustain an economic model that exports raw materials while importing finished goods.

The summit, held under the theme *“Financing Africa’s Industrialisation: Developing Industrial Value Chains, Beneficiation and Market Integration,”* brought together Heads of State, ministers, development partners, captains of industry, and multilateral institutions. The President of São Tomé and Príncipe was among the distinguished leaders present.

President Mahama stressed that industrialisation was no longer optional for Africa, noting that no country had achieved sustained prosperity without a strong industrial base. He lamented that Africa’s share of global manufacturing remained below two per cent, a situation he said continued to limit job creation and force young people to seek opportunities outside the continent.

Addressing the financing challenge, the President called for innovative and collective approaches, including stronger domestic resource mobilisation, the deployment of Africa’s institutional capital such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, and the use of blended finance instruments. He also urged governments to create stable policy environments to attract private investment, while calling on development partners to support de-risking mechanisms and global financial reforms.

President Mahama underscored the importance of beneficiation and value addition, citing cocoa, oil, textiles, and minerals as sectors where Africa continued to lose value by exporting raw materials. He also highlighted the need for regional value chains, stressing that Africa’s industrial future depended on integrated markets rather than fragmented national efforts.

Touching on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), President Mahama described it as the most ambitious integration project in Africa’s history, capable of transforming the continent into a viable manufacturing destination if deliberately linked to industrial policy, infrastructure development, and enterprise support. Ghana, he noted, remained committed to the AfCFTA and was proud to host its Secretariat.

*Trade Minister on Ghana’s Sector-Focused Industrial Strategy*

In a statement, the Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Hon. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, said Africa was at a defining moment as global industrial policy made a strong return, driven by supply chain resilience, strategic autonomy, and national security concerns.

She noted that while advanced economies were aggressively financing industrial policies, Africa faced the challenge of doing so amid limited fiscal space. To address this, she said Ghana had adopted sector-specific industrial policies supported by innovative blended finance mechanisms rather than generic interventions.

Hon. Ofosu-Adjare highlighted Ghana’s focus on textiles and garments, automotive components, and pharmaceuticals, describing them as strategic sectors with strong employment potential, regional market opportunities under AfCFTA, and value chain integration prospects. She emphasized that Ghana’s automotive policy had already attracted over US$100 million in investment, while local pharmaceutical production was critical for both health security and economic growth.

The Minister stressed that African industrialisation should be seen as a business opportunity, not charity, and called for regional coordination under AfCFTA to avoid wasteful competition among African countries.

*UNIDO Urges Shift from Policy to Production*

Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), H.E. Fatou Haidara, said Africa must urgently move from policy ambition to industrial execution if it was to benefit from global value chain reconfiguration and AfCFTA opportunities.
She described AfCFTA not only as a trade agreement but also as an industrial agreement, whose success depended on Africa’s ability to produce competitively, process locally, and trade regionally.

According to her, Africa’s key challenge was not vision but pace and scale of implementation. H.E. Haidara called for coordinated industrial policy, infrastructure, energy, and finance, and stressed the importance of regional specialisation rather than attempting to produce everything everywhere. She also highlighted inclusion as a productivity imperative, urging the integration of SMEs, youth-led, and women-owned enterprises into industrial value chains.

*Sir Sam Jonah Calls for Africa to Be ‘Boldly Self-Interested’*

Chairman of the Advisory Board of the African Trade Chamber, Sir Sam Jonah, delivered a passionate opening address, urging African leaders to respond decisively to a rapidly changing global order marked by trade wars, protectionism, climate shocks, and weaponised supply chains.

He argued that industrialisation was Africa’s shield and sword, warning that without it the continent would remain trapped as a supplier of raw materials while others captured value. Sir Sam called on Africa to be “unapologetically self-interested” by prioritising local processing, manufacturing, and fair terms in global trade.

He described AfCFTA as Africa’s fortress in a disrupted world, stressing the need for aggressive implementation, harmonised standards, efficient customs systems, and infrastructure that connects African markets. According to him, Africa’s future depended on climbing value chains in mining, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing.

*African Trade Chamber Pushes Private Sector–Led Industrialisation*

Executive Chair of the African Trade Chamber, Mrs. Benedicta Lasi, said the Africa Trade Summit was established to move the continent from endless debates about potential to decisive action on industrial development.

She noted that despite holding over 30 per cent of the world’s known mineral resources, Africa accounted for less than five per cent of global manufacturing output, while intra-African trade remained below 15 per cent. She said these outcomes reflected how production and capital were organised rather than a lack of resources.

Mrs. Lasi emphasised that industrialisation required deliberate coordination across government ministries and strong collaboration with the private sector. She explained that the African Trade Chamber’s industry councils were designed to prepare African enterprises for production at scale under AfCFTA, warning that the free trade area would reward readiness and expose hesitation.