President John Dramani Mahama has called on African countries to abandon a development model built on aid and humanitarian assistance, urging the continent to take responsibility for its own future.
Addressing global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the President said Africa’s post-independence journey has been marked by missed opportunities and overreliance on external support.
“Africa has lagged behind in the past decades, following liberation from colonialism, and has been trapped in cycles of conflict and multidimensional poverty. Africa has thrived on handouts and humanitarian assistance from the developed world,” Mahama said.
He stressed that shrinking global aid and shifting geopolitical priorities make dependency unsustainable.
“Global humanitarian assistance is shrinking,” he noted, adding that Africa must now “pull itself up by its own bootstraps.”
President Mahama said the Accra Reset Initiative offers a practical alternative—focused on building local capacity, investing in skills, and creating industries that deliver jobs and long-term growth across the continent.
