President John Dramani Mahama has once again underscored the need for international cooperation with Africa
In an address to world leaders at the World Governments Summit 2026 in Dubai, which opened in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 3rd February 2026 and set to end on 5th February 2026, President Mahama observed that the international system and its long-standing alliances are evolving. “The central question before us today,” he stated, “is not whether global alliances will endure but how they must be reimagined and renewed to remain effective, inclusive and responsive to the demands of our time”.
He disclosed that Africa has the youngest population, vast natural resources, dynamic innovation and an expanding market of 1.3 billion people will play a decisive role in shaping the global economy of the twenty-first century.
President Mahama, in his speech, stressed that new alliances with Africa must be built on adding value to the continent’s natural resources and granting it greater sovereignty and control over them. “That is why in Ghana,” he stated, “we have established the Goldbod that has yielded more than 10 billion dollars in less than a year.”
He further stated that Ghana’s medium- to long-term drive is to process and add value to resources, including gold, manganese, bauxite, lithium, petroleum, and key agricultural products such as cocoa, oil palm, cashew, cassava, and soya.

Ghana’s digital strides
President Mahama highlighted Ghana’s steady progress in digital transformation from mobile financial inclusion to national identification system and e-governance reforms.
He underscored that a digital future must not be the privilege of a few nations, stating, “Future alliances must therefore ensure ethical governance of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity cooperation, technology transfer and inclusive digital capacity-building.” He stressed the imperative that “innovation becomes a shared global good and not a source of new inequality.”