Addis Ababa: Sovereignty depends on strong negotiators – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama says Ghana’s sovereignty in global economic dealings hinges on building a corps of highly skilled negotiators to defend national interests.

He made the remarks in Addis Ababa ahead of the 39th Ordinary Summit of the African Union, where he outlined elements of the Accra Reset agenda.

“On negotiating power, it is said that sovereignty depends on the people manning the gates,” Mr Mahama stated, underscoring the importance of technical competence in international agreements.

He announced that work has already begun on a structured programme to strengthen Ghana’s negotiating capacity.

“Technical work has begun on our sovereign negotiators certification program,” he revealed, describing it as an initiative to cultivate “a generation of dealmakers who can navigate technology agreements, mineral contracts, and complex financing with confidence.”

According to the President, many developing countries have historically entered agreements without sufficient technical depth, often weakening their bargaining position in areas such as extractive industries, trade and digital infrastructure.

The certification programme, he explained, is intended to professionalise and standardise negotiation skills across key sectors, ensuring that future agreements reflect Ghana’s long-term development priorities.

Mr Mahama linked the initiative to broader structural reforms under the Accra Reset framework, which seeks to align finance, trade, health, skills and technology into a coherent development strategy.

“Accra Reset is an architecture, a framework, through which Africa and its partners align finance, health, trade, skills, and technology into a single direction of travel,” he said.

He argued that without skilled negotiators capable of handling complex global transactions, policy ambitions in industrialisation, digital transformation and mineral value addition could be undermined.

By investing in negotiation expertise, the President maintained, Ghana would strengthen its leverage in international partnerships while safeguarding national sovereignty.

The proposed programme signals a shift toward institutional capacity-building as a core pillar of economic diplomacy.