Africa is not an empty chessboard for foreign powers – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has cautioned that foreign powers are pursuing strategic influence and access to Africa’s natural resources, warning that the continent could lose control of its political and security direction without a united response from its leaders.

Addressing the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, on Saturday, October 24, Mr Mahama attributed conflicts across the continent partly to competition over natural resources, governance weaknesses and external interference.

He pointed to the conflicts in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where fighting is linked to competition for gold and strategic minerals such as coltan and cobalt.

“External powers, from the East, the West, and the Gulf, are actively seeking leverage, access, and client states on our soil.

“Let me be clear: Africa is not an empty chessboard for foreign powers to play their games. We are not spectators. But unless we consciously decide to take up the pen and write our own script, someone else will write it for us, and we will not like how the story ends.” he said.

The President also highlighted governance challenges in Somalia, the exclusion of young people in Mozambique’s gas-rich Cabo Delgado region, and divisions between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Alliance of Sahel States as threats to regional stability.

He further raised concerns about the increasing use of commercially available drones by armed groups, warning that the technology was making armed conflicts more deadly.

“Armed groups and non-state actors have mastered the commercial drone—cheap, accessible, and deadly. In Sudan alone, these low-cost flying weapons accounted for the vast majority of civilian casualties early this year” he added.

Mr Mahama called on African leaders to deepen cooperation and take greater responsibility for managing the continent’s natural resources and determining its security priorities.

He warned that without collective action, Africa would remain vulnerable to external interests shaping its political and security future.