President John Dramani Mahama has cautioned that rising military tensions in the Middle East could trigger significant economic disruptions across Africa. “We are following these geopolitical developments with deep concern. Recently, we witnessed coordinated strikes on Iran by the US and Israel, followed by retaliatory attacks from Iran on Gulf states—ushering in a new and volatile situation,” he said.
He stressed that Africa must brace for the inevitable shocks: “We know they will come, and when they do, our priority must be to safeguard our people. The Middle East remains the hub of global oil production, and any surge in crude prices beyond certain thresholds has damaging consequences for our economies.” The President therefore urged African nations to prepare proactively for the potential fallout, given the region’s central role in global energy supplies.
Event
President Mahama was speaking at the State House in Arusha yesterday during bilateral talks with the Tanzanian President, Samia Suluhu Hassan. President Mahama is in Arusha as the special guest of honour for the official opening of the 2026 Legal Year and the 20th anniversary celebration of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He encouraged Africans to be proud of the court, and entreated countries that were yet to ratify the court’s protocol to do so. On the economic partnership between the two countries, President Mahama observed that “we don’t have a permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation between us. It’s an issue we want to deal with as quickly as possible before a possible state visit we are negotiating.”
Sovereignty
President Mahama emphasised that Ghana has adopted a bold strategy to assert sovereignty over its natural resources, particularly gold.
“In the small-scale mining sector, our new regulations boosted gold exports from 63 tonnes to 104 tonnes within just nine months—bringing in an estimated $10 billion,” he noted. He urged African nations to take greater control of their resources to unlock opportunities for their youthful populations. Turning to agriculture, he outlined Ghana’s plan to move away from external financing models that pledge cocoa beans to foreign lenders.
“Beginning next season, at least 400,000 tonnes of our nearly 700,000-tonne cocoa harvest will be processed locally, allowing us to add value before export,” he explained. As the African Union’s Champion on Reparations, President Mahama also provided an update on the continent’s pursuit of reparative justice. He confirmed that a resolution recognising the Transatlantic Slave Trade as a grave crime against humanity will be presented to the UN General Assembly on March 25, 2026.
Shared lineage
President Hassan eulogised the shared lineage between the two nations, evoking the memory of Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and Tanzania’s Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. “Ghana and Tanzania have shared historic relations. Our first President, Nyerere, and Nkrumah were very close friends. “So we have a joint history that has metamorphosed into shared values, and it makes it easy for us to build an even closer relationship together,” she said.
President Hassan described Arusha not only as a tourist destination, but as a continental capital of justice and diplomacy. The city is host to the East African Community Headquarters, the Pan-African Postal Union, the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption, and the African Court. Focusing on the economy, President Hassan outlined Tanzania’s economic trajectory, indicating six per cent growth, with inflation between 3.5 and four per cent. She said her government’s focus was on economic transformation through value addition, human capital development for a population where 60 per cent are youth, and climate resilience.
Source: Kester Aburam Korankye
