President John Dramani Mahama has identified the control and exploitation of natural resources as major drivers of conflicts in Africa. He urged leaders to confront the economic interests that sustain violence across the continent.
He spoke at the 12th Tana High-Level Forum in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, while presenting the State of Peace and Security in Africa Report-
President Mahama said the continent’s conflicts cannot be fully understood by focusing only on weapons, armed groups and military operations. He argued that attention must also be paid to who controls valuable resources, who profits from their extraction and whose interests are served by prolonged instability.
“Those are merely the fever, not the malaria plasmodium. The real disease is mostly in the arena of political economy,” he said.
He cited the conflicts in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as insecurity in Somalia and Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado region. These, he said, are situations in which economic interests, governance failures and local grievances intersect.
He called for stronger resource governance so that Africa’s natural wealth benefits its people rather than deepening inequality and financing instability.
The President maintained that lasting peace will require African governments to address the underlying economic and political conditions that allow conflicts to persist.
Source: https://prekehmedia.com/ – LINK
