‘We are friends to all and enemies to none’ – Mahama courts global investors

• President John Dramani Mahama has reaffirmed Ghana’s non-aligned foreign policy, declaring that the country remains “friends to all and enemies to none” while welcoming investment from international partners, including the United States, China, Russia and the European Union.

• He has called for a new West African security cooperation framework to combat terrorism, urging Alliance of Sahel States (AES) countries to accept assistance from willing international partners and encouraging continued dialogue between the AES and ECOWAS.

• Mahama identified funding as a major obstacle to activating the ECOWAS Standby Force, citing delays in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2719 and the need to balance defence spending with healthcare and education priorities.

Speaking at the 13th Financial Times (FT) Africa Summit in London, the President said Ghana’s diplomatic approach was guided by the principle of being “friends to all and enemies to none”, stressing that international partnerships should deliver fair returns for both investors and the country.

The two-day summit, held under the theme “Mobilising Growth in a New Global Order”, brought together heads of state, policymakers and business leaders to discuss economic growth and international cooperation.

President Mahama said;

He noted that Ghana maintained cordial relations with the United States, the European Union, China and Russia, adding that the country remained open to engaging with different international partners.

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The President also disclosed plans to attend the Russia-Africa Summit, where he intended to appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to support a ceasefire in the ongoing war involving Russia.

He said;

On security challenges in the Sahel, President Mahama argued that countries in the region should be able to obtain assistance from any partner willing to help combat terrorism.

He said Ghana worked with the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the United States through intelligence-sharing arrangements and joint military training programmes.

Against this backdrop, he urged the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) countries to remain open to international security partnerships.

He said;

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President Mahama also called for a renewed framework for security cooperation in West Africa, noting that the existing Accra Initiative appeared to have stalled.

He said;

He explained that two conferences had been held in Accra, while ECOWAS negotiators and representatives of the AES countries had more recently met in Dakar, Senegal, to discuss regional cooperation.

The President expressed hope that these engagements would help establish a coordinated approach to tackling violent extremism and other security threats across the sub-region.

Addressing tensions between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the AES bloc, President Mahama expressed confidence in ECOWAS’s ability to overcome its current difficulties.

He highlighted the regional body's history of integration, noting that it was established before the European Union and introduced a free-movement protocol ahead of the EU.

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He also pointed to the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, which facilitates trade among member states.

He said;

Despite the political divisions between ECOWAS and the AES countries, President Mahama maintained that the foundations for regional cooperation remained in place, particularly in the movement of people and goods.

Using a family analogy, he described the relationship between the two blocs as strained but not irreparable.

He said;

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He expressed optimism that continued negotiations could lead to a practical working relationship, even if the immediate return of the AES countries to ECOWAS proved difficult.

President Mahama also identified financing as a major obstacle to activating the ECOWAS Standby Force, arguing that the key challenge was securing adequate funding rather than finding trained military personnel.

He pointed to delays in implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 2719, which provides a framework for financing African Union-led peace support operations through UN-assessed contributions, subject to the resolution's conditions.

He added that declining financial support for the United Nations had made efforts to put the arrangement into practice more difficult.

The President said African countries had the capacity to undertake some security interventions themselves but were constrained by limited financial resources.

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He said;

He explained that governments also had to balance defence spending against essential public services, including healthcare and education.

He added;

President Mahama expressed hope that the implementation of the UN resolution would help mobilise the resources needed to operationalise the ECOWAS Standby Force and strengthen the region’s ability to respond to security threats.