President Mahama champions economic emancipation, vows AfCFTA push for Caribbean

President John Dramani Mahama has described economic emancipation as the next major challenge confronting Ghana, Jamaica and other African countries, calling for deeper cooperation between Africa and the Caribbean to drive sustainable development and shared prosperity.

President John Dramani Mahama has described economic emancipation as the next major challenge confronting Ghana, Jamaica and other African countries, calling for deeper cooperation between Africa and the Cari President Mahama made the remarks at the Special High-Level Reparation Dialogue at the University of the West Indies, held on Monday, 3 August 2026, at the UWI Regional Headquarters, part of a four-day state visit to Jamaica running from 2 to 5 August 2026. He said the fight for political independence had been won, and the priority now was building resilient economies that improve citizens’ lives.

He noted that Pan-African leaders’ ideas had inspired independence movements across Africa and played a significant role in the continent’s liberation, paying tribute to the historical ties between Ghana and Jamaica.

“I’m happy to have come to Jamaica. We all know the relationships that have existed between Ghana and Jamaica. Indeed, our first president, of blessed memory, had always written and spoken about Marcus Garvey and the influence he had on him,” he said. “Today, all that is history. But that was the fight for liberation.”

He said the two nations must now channel that relationship into economic transformation.

“But today, we’re faced with a new fight. And that is why the relationships between us and visits like this are important. The battle that confronts us now is not the battle for liberation — we’re independent anyway — the battle that confronts us is how we can cooperate to increase our economic development and create prosperity for our people.

And so the battle now is the battle for economic emancipation,” he added.

During the same visit, President Mahama used a joint press conference with Jamaican Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness to announce plans to champion Caribbean inclusion in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) once he becomes AU chair next year.

He called the move a strategic step towards strengthening economic ties between the two regions, saying an expanded AfCFTA would create greater opportunities for trade, investment and economic cooperation, while building on the historical and cultural links shared between Africa and the Caribbean.

On trade prospects, President Mahama cautioned that growing commercial exchanges would take deliberate planning and sustained investment rather than quick fixes.

“With regards to trade, we don’t kid ourselves that you snap your fingers and suddenly our trade volumes will go up. We need to work at it. And that is why I said one way of working at it is to put in the infrastructure and the logistics. But the second is to expand the trade area,” he said.

“And that is why I said as chair of the AU, I am going to push for the inclusion of the Caribbean into the African Continental Free Trade Area.”

The AfCFTA came into force in 2021 and is the world’s largest free trade area by number of participating countries, currently spanning only African Union member states.

Extending it to CARICOM nations would mark a significant expansion of its scope.

President Mahama’s visit to Jamaica has also included bilateral talks with Dr Holness on trade, culture and South-South cooperation, forming part of wider AU-CARICOM efforts to advance the global campaign for reparations for the transatlantic slave trade.bbean to drive sustainable development and shared prosperity.

SOURCE:3NEWS