President Mahama’s Historic Address to Zambia’s Parliament: A Call for African Resource Sovereignty

On February 5, 2026, Former President of Ghana John Dramani Mahama delivered a significant speech before the National Assembly of Zambia, the country’s parliament. This address, part of a broader diplomatic and statesman engagement, centered on a critical theme for the African continent: the urgent need for African nations to assert greater control over their natural resources as the foundational pathway to achieving sustainable economic development and shared prosperity. The event, attended by Zambian legislators, diplomats, and civil society, underscored a enduring conversation about economic sovereignty, post-colonial resource management, and intra-African solidarity. This article provides a comprehensive, SEO-optimized analysis of the speech’s content, its historical and political context, its implications for African development policy, and answers to key questions surrounding this pivotal moment in regional diplomacy.

Key Points of the Address

President Mahama’s address was concise yet profound, weaving together personal experience, continental history, and forward-looking policy prescriptions. The core messages can be distilled into several pivotal points.

1. The Imperative of Resource Sovereignty

Mahama argued that true economic independence for Africa is inextricably linked to the control and beneficiation of its own mineral, agricultural, and energy resources. He highlighted the paradox of nations rich in copper, cobalt, oil, gold, and agricultural land remaining vulnerable to commodity price shocks and external economic dictates. His call was not for isolationism but for a strategic renegotiation of contracts, increased local participation in mining and extraction industries, and the development of regional value chains to keep more of the wealth generated within Africa.

2. Sustainable Prosperity Over Short-Term Extraction

The speech explicitly connected resource control to long-term, sustainable accomplishment. Mahama warned against the “resource curse” or “paradox of plenty,” where countries with abundant natural resources often experience poorer development outcomes, including corruption, conflict, and economic stagnation. He advocated for transparent management, reinvestment of resource revenues into education, healthcare, and infrastructure, and the establishment of sovereign wealth funds to buffer against future economic downturns.

3. Pan-African Solidarity and Collective Bargaining

A strong undercurrent of the address was the need for African countries to present a united front. Mahama suggested that individual nations negotiating with large multinational corporations or powerful consumer nations have limited leverage. By harmonizing policies and forming strategic blocs—such as through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)—African states could command better terms, foster intra-African trade in processed goods, and reduce dependency on former colonial powers and new global players.

4. Learning from History and Personal Experience

Drawing on his tenure as President of Ghana (2012-2017) and his earlier roles as Minister of Communications and Member of Parliament, Mahama referenced Ghana’s own journey with gold, oil, and cocoa. He acknowledged the challenges faced but pointed to legislative reforms and local content laws as steps toward reclaiming agency. This personal lens provided authenticity and a practical, rather than purely theoretical, dimension to his advocacy.

Background: The Speaker, The Audience, and The Venue

To fully grasp the significance of this address, one must understand the backgrounds of its key elements: the speaker, the host nation, and the historic chamber in which it was delivered.

Former President John Dramani Mahama: A Voice of Experience

John Dramani Mahama is a seasoned Ghanaian politician and diplomat. His political career spans decades, including service as Member of Parliament for Bole Bamboi, Minister for Communications, Vice-President (2009-2012), and President (2012-2017). Since leaving office, he has served as a respected elder statesman, taking on roles such as the African Union’s High Representative for Infrastructure Development and leading mediation efforts in regional conflicts. His perspective is deeply informed by the realities of governing a resource-rich African nation within a complex global economic system. His address to Zambia was not that of a sitting head of state but of a former leader whose credibility stems from having “been in the room” where critical decisions were made.

Zambia: A Copper-Rich Nation at a Crossroads

Zambia is one of Africa’s most resource-dependent economies, with copper accounting for over 70% of its export earnings. This makes it acutely vulnerable to fluctuations in global commodity markets. The country has a long history of mining, dating back to the British colonial era, and has struggled to translate its vast mineral wealth into broad-based development. Recent years have seen Zambia grapple with high debt levels, partly incurred during commodity slumps, and ongoing negotiations with international creditors. The Zambian government, under President Hakainde Hichilema, has explicitly prioritized economic diversification and renegotiating mining contracts to ensure greater local benefit. Mahama’s address resonated powerfully in this context, offering both a philosophical framework and practical lessons from Ghana’s similar experiences with gold and oil.

The National Assembly of Zambia: A Symbol of Legislative Sovereignty

Choosing the National Assembly as the venue was symbolically potent. Parliaments are the primary institutions of democratic sovereignty, where laws governing resource extraction, taxation, and national budgeting are debated and enacted. By addressing the Zambian legislature directly, Mahama was speaking to the very body empowered to enact the legal and policy changes necessary for resource sovereignty. The National Assembly building in Lusaka, with its modern architecture, stands as a monument to the nation’s self-governance, making it an apt stage for a speech about reclaiming economic destiny.

Analysis: Deconstructing the Call for Resource Sovereignty

Mahama’s speech taps into a deep and longstanding vein of African political thought. To understand its full weight, one must analyze the historical, economic, and geopolitical dimensions of “resource sovereignty.”

The Historical Legacy: From Colonial Extraction to Neo-Colonial Patterns

The call for control over natural resources is fundamentally a post-colonial demand. During colonial rule, African resources were extracted with little to no local processing or value addition, with profits flowing almost entirely to the colonizing power. Post-independence, many nations nationalized their mining and agricultural sectors. However, over subsequent decades, structural adjustment programs imposed by the IMF and World Bank often forced privatization and liberalization, leading to a new wave of foreign corporate dominance with, critics argue, similarly extractive outcomes. Mahama’s speech implicitly critiques this continuum, arguing that true independence requires breaking these patterns.

Economic Theory: Confronting the “Resource Curse”

The “resource curse” is a well-documented phenomenon in development economics. Countries with an abundance of point-source resources (like minerals and oil) often experience slower economic growth, weaker institutions, and more conflict than those without. Mechanisms include economic volatility (boom-bust cycles), corruption (the “rentier state” where governments live off resource revenues without taxing citizens), and the crowding out of other sectors (Dutch Disease). Mahama’s prescription—local beneficiation, sovereign wealth funds, and transparency—aligns with the policy toolkit recommended by economists to mitigate these risks. His emphasis on “sustainable accomplishment” directly addresses the curse’s sustainability deficit.

Geopolitical Shifts: New Partners, Old Challenges

The global context has shifted since the late 20th century. While traditional Western corporations remain major players, new actors, particularly China, have become dominant investors and consumers of African resources through initiatives like the Belt and Road. Mahama’s call for sovereignty is thus not targeted at any single nation but is a broad principle for navigating all foreign partnerships. The challenge is to attract necessary foreign direct investment and technology while ensuring contracts are fair, environmental standards are met, and value addition occurs locally. This requires sophisticated legal, technical, and diplomatic capacity—a point Mahama underscored by emphasizing the need for strong state institutions.

Legal and Contractual Realities

Resource sovereignty operates within a framework of international law, investment treaties, and existing contracts. Unilaterally rewriting mining concessions can trigger costly international arbitration (as seen in cases like the Togo-Ghana border dispute or various mining lawsuits). Mahama’s advocacy, therefore, implies a long-term strategy: using the legitimate authority of the state to negotiate new agreements with better terms, gradually amending laws to favor local content, and building the regulatory capacity to enforce existing regulations. The legal implication is that the path to sovereignty is one of meticulous statecraft and legal reform, not expropriation without compensation, which would violate bilateral investment treaties and deter future investment.

Practical Advice: Pathways to Implementing Resource Sovereignty

Translating the philosophical call into action requires concrete steps. Based on Mahama’s implied framework and global best practices, here is practical advice for African policymakers, legislators, and civil society.

For Governments and Legislators:

• Conduct Transparent Resource Audits: Establish publicly accessible databases of all active mining, oil, and gas contracts, including fiscal terms and production volumes. Transparency is the first defense against corrupt deals.
• Mandate Local Content and Value Addition: Enact and strictly enforce laws requiring a minimum percentage of local employment, procurement of local goods and services, and, where economically viable, in-country processing of raw materials (e.g., refining copper cathode, processing cocoa into chocolate).
• Establish and Capitalize Sovereign Wealth Funds: Create independent, professionally managed funds to save a portion of resource revenues during boom times. These funds can stabilize the national budget during slumps and finance long-term development projects. Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global is a classic model, though African contexts require tailored governance structures to prevent corruption.
• Renegotiate Unbalanced Contracts: Use the leverage of existing agreements (e.g., clauses for review during periods of extreme price volatility) or the expiry of contracts to negotiate new terms that ensure a fairer