President John Mahama says he plans to appeal directly to Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire when he travels to Russia next week for the Russia-Africa Summit, using the trip as an opening to nudge the Russian leader toward ending hostilities.
Speaking at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London, Mahama was straightforward about his intentions.
"Indeed, I'm going to Russia for the Russia-Africa summit and try to convince President Putin to have a ceasefire if I can," he said.
Mahama used the same platform to push back against the idea that Ghana should pick sides among competing global powers when courting investment.
"We are friends to all and enemies to none. And Ghana's policy of non-alignment has served us well. And so we welcome investors from all over the world," he said.
He was clear that Ghana's economic decisions are not meant to be shaped by geopolitical rivalry.
"It's not about competition. It's about investment and a fair return to everybody, including ourselves," he said, noting that Ghana maintains working relationships with the United States, the European Union, China and Russia alike.
Ending Raw Mineral Exports by 2030
Mahama also used the summit to reaffirm government's plan to stop exporting raw minerals by 2030, with local processing and job creation positioned as the main payoff.
He said the target depends on bringing in investors willing to build processing industries on Ghanaian soil rather than simply extracting and shipping out raw materials.
For Mahama, that kind of investment needs to spread benefits beyond the mining site itself.
"We've gone past the time where you had enclaves of prosperity and surrounded by impoverished communities.
"It's in the interest of the investor to have a safe environment. You cannot have prosperity in the midst of poverty." - President Mahama
"That itself is a danger to investments. And so it's a win-win. It's not a zero-sum game," he added.
He pointed to gold as proof the strategy is already working, noting that 70 percent of Ghana's gold is now refined locally before it leaves the country. Cocoa is next in line, with government targeting domestic processing of at least half of the beans produced annually.
Mahama framed both sectors as evidence that expanding local processing capacity can create jobs and strengthen domestic industry, while ensuring Ghana keeps a larger share of the value generated from resources that, until recently, left the country largely unprocessed.
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