President John Dramani Mahama has called for a new approach to Africa’s engagement with the international community, insisting that partnerships with external powers must give African countries greater control over decisions affecting their resources and development.

He said Africa should remain open to cooperation with the rest of the world, but such relationships must no longer leave the continent with limited influence over how its resources are utilised or how its development priorities are determined.

“We don’t reject partnerships, but those partnerships must be on our terms. We must have a greater say in what those resources are used for,” President Mahama said.

He made the statement in an interview with TRT World on Friday, August 21, 2026, during which he argued that the continent’s future depended partly on its ability to negotiate international relationships from a position of greater strength.

A new basis for cooperation

President Mahama said Africa did not need to turn its back on international partners to assert its interests.

Rather, he said, African countries should build the capacity to ensure that cooperation with external partners advances their own economic and social priorities.

His emphasis on partnerships “on our terms” reflects a call for African countries to have a stronger voice in determining what happens to their natural resources and how the benefits of international cooperation are distributed.

The President said the question of partnerships was also connected to Africa’s wider position in the international system.

“But then it’s gone a step further because it applies to other things, including the whole global order. I mean, Africa cannot continue to be a dependent continent,” he noted.

Greater say, greater influence

According to President Mahama, African countries must identify practical ways of increasing their influence in global affairs.

“There are things we can do so that we’re able to have a better voice in global affairs,” he said.

His position is that Africa’s engagement with the rest of the world should increasingly be defined by mutual interest and equal participation, rather than relationships in which the continent largely responds to decisions made elsewhere.

The President’s call therefore goes beyond rejecting dependency. It is a demand for African countries to strengthen their negotiating position so that partnerships involving the continent’s resources, economies and development are shaped with meaningful African participation.