President John Dramani Mahama has asserted that Western powers are continuously exploiting Africa’s natural resources even after colonialism.
Quoting Ghana’s first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s words, the President said although the era of direct colonial rule has ended, foreign control over Africa’s wealth has not stopped.
Speaking at the Executive Leadership Retreat in Ada on Thursday, April 24, Mr. Mahama noted that Western countries no longer need to install governors to rule African nations, yet they still manage to control resources from afar.
“They don’t need to bring a governor to sit here,” he said, quoting Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. “But from wherever the colonial headquarters is, they control your resources and still derive the benefits as if they had colonized you.”
He explained that during the colonial era, foreign powers took gold, diamonds, palm oil, and other resources out of Africa.
The pattern, he said, continued after independence through multinational companies that secure large concessions and ship profits abroad.
According to Mr. Mahama, Africa initially lacked the capital, technology, and skilled manpower to manage its resources, making it dependent on foreign companies.
“But today, I think that in Africa, we’ve developed the core of human resource capable of also taking advantage of some of these resources. We have the technology and access to capital to do whatever the big conglomerates are doing,” he stated.
