President John Dramani Mahama has called on African nations to chart an independent course of development, warning against what he described as the longstanding tendency to measure the continent’s progress by Western standards.
Speaking at the opening of the 2026 judicial year of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha, Tanzania, the Ghanaian leader urged African policymakers and institutions to draw confidence from their own history, values and governance traditions.
Mahama cautioned that parts of the so-called Global North, often presented as models of democracy and human rights, are themselves facing significant internal challenges. He pointed to what he described as declining public trust in institutions, growing executive overreach and pressures on civil liberties in some Western nations.
“For far too long, we have compared ourselves to the West and used what we believed were their standards as benchmarks for our endeavors,” he said, arguing that Africa must reassess this mindset in light of current global realities.
Quoting Tanzania’s founding president, Julius K. Nyerere, Mahama reminded his audience that self-worth should not be determined by comparison with others. He stressed that Africa’s development agenda should be rooted in its own socio-cultural context rather than external validation.
The President emphasized that forging an independent path does not mean rejecting universal human rights principles. Instead, he said, it requires strengthening African institutions and ensuring that governance frameworks reflect the continent’s unique experiences and aspirations.
Mahama’s remarks come amid growing debate across the continent about self-determination, regional integration and the need for African-led solutions to political and economic challenges.