Pres Mahama to engage Putin on Russia-Ukraine war

PRESIDENT John Dramani Mahama has said he will engage his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to seek a ceasefire in the four-year-old Russia-Ukraine war.

Mr Mahama, who is scheduled to attend the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow next week, said Ghana would leverage its friendly relations with Russia to help broker peace.

“We are friendly to America, the EU, China, and Russia. Indeed, I’m going to the Russia-Africa Summit and will try to convince President Putin to have a ceasefire,” President Mahama said.

He was speaking at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London on Wednesday.

The summit, on the theme, “Mobilising Growth in a New Global Order”, brought together heads of state, global business leaders and leading institutional financiers for two days of discussions on accelerating inclusive growth and mobilising capital amid changes in the global economic order.

The Russia-Ukraine war is estimated to have claimed more than 352,000 lives, caused 1.4 million injuries and displaced more than nine million people, making it the largest displacement crisis in Europe since World War II.

The conflict has also triggered global economic disruptions, driving up energy and food prices, fuelling inflation and putting pressure on public finances.

President Mahama said Ghana was a friend to all nations and an enemy to none. He said the country’s non-aligned position, which meant it was not aligned with any superpower, would provide an opportunity to engage Russia on the need for a ceasefire.

On investment, the President said Ghana was open to investors across various sectors of the economy, provided the arrangements delivered mutual benefits to all parties.

He said that despite global economic disruptions, including the crisis in the Middle East, Ghana’s economy remained stable and offered investment opportunities, citing an inflation rate of five per cent, a stabilising local currency and a falling cost of credit.

• President Mahama (inset) addressing participants at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London.

“We welcome investors from all over the world. It is not about competition. It is about investment and a fair return to everybody, including ourselves. That is the condition. There is no competition,” he stated.

President Mahama also said the global economic order was skewed against Africa, putting the continent at a disadvantage in its development efforts.

Citing disparities in borrowing costs, he said African countries, on average, paid interest rates up to eight times higher than those paid by Western nations. He noted that some of the borrowing was to address the effects of climate change, which Africa had not caused.

He said about US$80 billion left the continent annually through interest payments and debt repayments, while another US$90 billion was lost through illicit financial flows, transfer pricing and related practices. He added that development assistance to Africa was also dwindling.

“Africa is a very resilient continent. More than US$200 billion goes out every year while development assistance continues to dwindle. I wonder how Europe would have survived under those conditions, yet Africa is still on the map,” he stated.

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