President John Dramani Mahama has outlined five pragmatic measures African leaders must adopt to secure a meaningful place at the table in the emerging new world order and reduce the continent’s long-standing donor dependency on multilateral institutions and Western countries.
Speaking on the margins of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in 2026, themed “Defining the Sovereign Future,” President Mahama stressed the urgent need for African countries to retain their teeming youth population by improving living standards, strengthening institutions, and expanding economic opportunities to deter mass migration in search of greener pastures abroad.
According to him, Africa risks losing its most productive population to other regions if governments fail to create systems that allow young people to thrive at home rather than contribute to the development of foreign economies.
Mahama’s position is consistent with his long-held mantra at international platforms, which he reiterated at the 80th United Nations General Assembly and during the launch of the Accra Reset Initiative, that “the future is African.”
Africa is projected to host the world’s largest youth population by 2050, with an estimated 850 million young people aged between 15 and 35, representing about a quarter of the global population. Currently, about 60 per cent of Africa’s population is under the age of 25, according to the World Population Report 2024.
However, a 2024 survey by African News indicates that 52 per cent of African youth intend to migrate abroad within the next three years, citing economic decline, political instability, corruption, weak governance systems, and the lack of well-paying jobs in their home countries.
Despite the looming exodus, the survey revealed relatively higher optimism among young people in countries such as Ghana and Rwanda, where 60 per cent and 50 per cent respectively expressed confidence in their countries’ direction, compared to nearly two-thirds of youth in other African nations who remain pessimistic about national prospects.
To reverse the trend and seal the loopholes driving brain drain, President Mahama identified skills development as the first critical intervention. He called for substantial investment in job-market-aligned skills, particularly in digital technology, renewable energy, and manufacturing.
His administration, he noted, has already begun acting on this vision through initiatives such as the One Million Coders Programme, aimed at equipping young people with digital skills, and the Adwumawura Initiative, which focuses on vocational and technical training.
“We must invest in skills—not just education, but skills that match real jobs in the real economy. Digital skills, green energy skills, manufacturing skills. We need a generation of young Africans who can build and not just consume,” he said.
Secondly, President Mahama called on African countries to build together, advocating the creation of regional prosperity platforms, shared manufacturing hubs, integrated energy grids, and robust digital infrastructure to expand opportunities for businesses and workers across borders.
He further urged African nations to negotiate collectively rather than individually, warning that fragmented bargaining has weakened the continent’s position and led to the exploitation of its critical minerals and rare earth resources.
“When we bargain separately, we are weak. When we negotiate together on minerals, trade, and climate finance, we can be formidable,” he stated.
He also emphasized the need for Africa to produce what it consumes, from food and vaccines to energy and other strategic commodities, as a pathway to safeguarding the continent’s autonomy, originality, and economic sovereignty.
Finally, President Mahama underscored accountability and good governance as the most critical pillar of Africa’s reset. He acknowledged that corruption and mismanagement have eroded investor confidence and denied citizens the prosperity they deserve.
“We cannot ask the world to invest in us if we tolerate corruption, waste, and systems that don’t work. Reset means reform, and reform means results,” he said.
The five proposals, President Mahama noted, are ultimately aimed at keeping Africa’s youth on the continent and averting the dangerous and often fatal migration routes across the Mediterranean in search of better opportunities abroad.
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