President John Dramani Mahama has urged African leaders to pursue a bold, coordinated transformation of the continent’s financial architecture, cautioning that Africa’s industrialisation drive will falter without access to affordable, long-term financing.

Speaking at the opening of the Africa Trade Summit 2026 in Accra on Wednesday, January 28, 2028, the President identified inadequate financing as a major obstacle to industrial growth. He noted that while industrialisation requires substantial capital, African economies are constrained by shallow financial markets and high interest rates.

President Mahama said Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), which employ a significant share of Africa’s industrial workforce, are particularly affected by these challenges. He described the key issue confronting African policymakers as how to mobilise financing for growth at the required “scale and speed.”

He called for stronger domestic resource mobilisation, urging governments to clamp down on illicit financial flows and improve revenue collection systems.

A central element of his proposal involves harnessing Africa’s own financial resources. The President encouraged governments to develop appropriate instruments to channel funds from pension schemes, insurance firms and sovereign wealth funds into productive industrial investments.

To attract private sector participation, President Mahama outlined a three-point approach focused on risk-sharing mechanisms such as credit guarantees, ensuring policy stability to provide certainty for long-term investors, and strengthening public financial management to support infrastructure and energy development.

His address reflected the summit’s broader focus on economic sovereignty, building on earlier remarks by Sir Sam Jonah calling for greater self-reliance. President Mahama concluded by stressing that development partners must move beyond traditional aid and instead provide technical and risk-mitigation support that enables African industries to compete effectively on the global stage.