A Development Communications Perspective by Amin Mohamd

Ghana has always had an interesting relationship with the idea of independence. In 1957, independence was not conceived merely as the transfer of political authority from the British to Ghanaians. For Kwame Nkrumah, political independence was only meaningful if it eventually produced economic independence, intellectual freedom and the capacity for Africans to determine their own future.

That unfinished project remains relevant today.

More than six decades after independence, Ghana is politically sovereign, but sovereignty does not always translate into strategic autonomy. A country can have a flag, constitution, parliament and diplomatic missions and still have limited room to make independent decisions when its economy is heavily dependent on external financing, imports, foreign technology, commodity exports and external markets.

This, in my view as a Development Communications expert, is the central foreign-policy question Ghana should be asking today:

How do we move from being a country that participates in the international system to a country that has enough economic, intellectual, technological and institutional capacity to negotiate its place in that system on its own terms?

Strategic autonomy does not mean isolation. It does not mean rejecting China, the United States, Europe, the IMF, the World Bank or foreign investors. Neither does it mean pretending Ghana can become self-sufficient in everything.

Strategic autonomy means having enough internal capacity and diversified external relationships to make choices without being forced into them by dependency.

And that distinction is crucial.

From political independence to strategic autonomy

Ghana’s foreign-policy history provides a useful starting point.

Nkrumah’s foreign policy was deeply influenced by Pan-Africanism, anti-colonialism and the desire to protect Ghana’s independence from external interference. His conception of positive neutrality was not passive neutrality; Ghana was expected to take positions on international issues based on its own assessment of its interests. Ghana’s official foreign-policy history still identifies Nkrumah’s vision of African unity and non-alignment as foundational to the country’s diplomacy.

But Nkrumah understood something that remains relevant today: political independence without economic capacity can produce a vulnerable sovereignty.

This was why industrialisation, economic transformation and African integration were central to his vision.

The problem is that Ghana’s post-independence journey has repeatedly demonstrated the difficulty of translating political sovereignty into economic autonomy. Different governments have had to navigate debt, balance-of-payments crises, dependence on external financing, commodity-price fluctuations and relationships with powerful international institutions.

The contemporary challenge is therefore not to reproduce Nkrumah’s foreign policy exactly. The world has changed.

The challenge is to modernise the underlying idea of autonomy.

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Strategic autonomy begins at home

My first argument is simple:

Ghana cannot achieve strategic autonomy abroad without building strategic capacity at home.

We sometimes discuss foreign policy as though autonomy is achieved by making stronger speeches at international conferences or refusing to align with major powers.

It is not.

A country that imports most of what it consumes, borrows heavily to finance development, exports largely raw materials and struggles to generate enough foreign exchange will inevitably have a narrower diplomatic bargaining space.

The relationship is straightforward:

Economic capacity → bargaining power → policy choices → strategic autonomy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself recognises the connection. Ghana’s foreign-policy objectives include economic diplomacy, attracting investment, expanding exports and leveraging international relationships for national development.

Therefore, foreign policy must become an extension of development policy.

This means Ghanaian embassies should not only organise diplomatic receptions and political engagements. They should actively identify:

• markets for Ghanaian products;
• investment opportunities;
• technology partnerships;
• research collaborations;
• tourism opportunities;
• export financing;
• skills partnerships;
• and opportunities for Ghanaian businesses.

In other words, diplomats must increasingly become development agents.

1. Ghana must move from resource extraction to value creation

This may be the most important pillar of strategic autonomy.

Ghana has gold, cocoa, oil, bauxite, manganese, lithium and other valuable resources. Yet possessing resources is not the same as possessing power.

The real question is:

What percentage of the value chain do we control?

If Ghana exports cocoa and imports chocolate, exports gold and imports sophisticated manufactured products, or exports minerals while importing technologies required to process them, then the country is participating in globalisation largely from the lower end of the value chain.

Strategic autonomy requires Ghana to move upward.

That means:

This is where development communication becomes important.

We have to change the national conversation from “What resources do we have?” to “What value can we create from those resources?”

The story of Ghana’s development cannot remain a story of what foreigners can extract from Ghana. It must become a story of what Ghanaians can build from what Ghana possesses.

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2. Strategic autonomy requires technological sovereignty

The next frontier is technology.

A country that depends entirely on foreign technology for its telecommunications, digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, manufacturing and critical public systems has limited autonomy.

This does not mean Ghana must invent every technology itself.

It means Ghana must develop the capacity to understand, adapt, own and eventually create technology.

This requires massive investment in:

• STEM education;
• artificial intelligence;
• cybersecurity;
• software development;
• research and development;
• universities;
• technical and vocational education;
• digital infrastructure;
• and Ghanaian technology companies.

Ghana should therefore negotiate foreign technology partnerships around technology transfer, not simply technology acquisition.

3. We need to redefine South-South cooperation

Ghana’s growing relationship with China demonstrates why South-South cooperation matters.

China has become a major economic partner for Ghana. Ghana-China trade reached a record US$14.1 billion in 2025, according to the Ghana News Agency.

Ghana should deepen relationships with China, India, Brazil, Türkiye, the Gulf states and other emerging economies while simultaneously maintaining productive relationships with Europe and North America.

Strategic flexibility.

Ghana should work with whoever provides the best opportunity for Ghanaian development while ensuring that no external partner becomes indispensable.

4. Economic diplomacy must become commercial diplomacy

Ghana has historically been respected for its political diplomacy. We have produced diplomats, peacekeepers, mediators and international leaders. But the next phase requires something more:

Ghana must become exceptionally good at economic diplomacy.

The Ministry’s current foreign-policy framework already places economic diplomacy at the centre of Ghana’s development agenda, alongside strategic partnerships, security cooperation, climate diplomacy, diaspora engagement and South-South cooperation. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ghana)

I would go further.

Every major diplomatic mission should have measurable economic targets.

For example:

• How many Ghanaian companies entered new markets?
• How much investment was attracted?
• How many jobs resulted?
• How many export contracts were secured?
• How many technology partnerships were created?
• How many Ghanaian startups were connected to global investors?

This would transform diplomacy from representation to measurable development impact.

5. Ghana needs a national export strategy

Strategic autonomy is impossible without foreign exchange. And foreign exchange ultimately comes from producing things the rest of the world wants to buy.

Ghana, therefore needs a deliberate national export strategy built around competitive sectors.

Rather than allowing every government to reinvent economic priorities, Ghana should identify perhaps 10–15 globally competitive Ghanaian products and services and build long-term diplomatic and commercial strategies around them.

This should include not only commodities but:

• processed agricultural products;
• pharmaceuticals;
• fintech;
• creative industries;
• tourism;
• education;
• professional services;
• technology;
• logistics;
• and manufacturing.

6. The diaspora must become part of Ghana’s foreign-policy architecture

One of Ghana’s most underutilized strategic assets is its diaspora. The diaspora is not simply a source of remittances.

It is also a source of:

capital + knowledge + networks + technology + markets + political influence.

A Ghanaian professional in London, Toronto, Washington, Berlin or Dubai can potentially connect a Ghanaian company to capital, technology or markets.

Therefore, Ghana’s diaspora policy should move beyond cultural events and consular services toward strategic diaspora engagement.

We need a database and network connecting Ghanaian professionals globally with:

• Ghanaian universities;
• startups;
• businesses;
• government agencies;
• researchers;
• investors;
• and young entrepreneurs.

Diaspora diplomacy should become an economic-development instrument.

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7. AfCFTA should become Ghana’s strategic weapon

If Ghana wants strategic autonomy, Africa cannot simply be a diplomatic slogan. It must become a market.

The African Continental Free Trade Area offers Ghana an opportunity to reduce its dependence on markets outside Africa.

Instead of asking:

“How do we export more to Europe?”

we should also ask:

“How do we build Ghanaian companies capable of serving 1.4 billion Africans?”

That is a foreign-policy strategy.

Ghana’s location, democratic reputation, financial ecosystem and historical diplomatic position provide advantages.

But Ghana must turn those advantages into productive capacity. Accra should not only be a diplomatic capital. It should become a commercial, financial, technological and intellectual hub for West Africa.

8. Strategic autonomy requires fiscal discipline

This is perhaps the uncomfortable part. Foreign policy cannot be separated from fiscal policy.

If Ghana continuously spends beyond its means, accumulates unsustainable debt and repeatedly requires external rescue, diplomatic autonomy becomes difficult.

The idea behind Ghana Beyond Aid remains relevant here. The initiative sought a Ghana capable of mobilising its own resources and building a development model less dependent on external assistance.

But “Beyond Aid” should not mean “Ghana without international cooperation.” That would be unrealistic. It should mean:

International cooperation should complement Ghanaian capacity, not substitute for it.

Aid can build a school. But Ghana must develop an economy capable of financing education. A foreign loan can build infrastructure. But Ghana must develop industries capable of generating the revenue to repay the loan.

Foreign investment can create a factory.

But Ghana must develop the skills and institutions required to ensure that the factory contributes to long-term domestic capacity.

That is the difference between development assistance and development dependence.

9. Ghana needs a development communication strategy for foreign policy

This is where I believe Development Communication can contribute significantly.

We often communicate foreign policy as protocol:

But citizens rarely hear the most important question:

“What does this relationship mean for the ordinary Ghanaian?”

Development communication requires us to translate diplomacy into development outcomes.

If Ghana signs an agreement with China, communicate:

• What is Ghana giving?
• What is Ghana receiving?
• How many jobs?
• What technology?
• What local participation?
• What is the repayment structure?
• What are the risks?
• What is the expected national benefit?

If Ghana negotiates an oil agreement:

• What percentage of value remains in Ghana?
• How does it benefit communities?
• What technology is transferred?
• What happens when the oil runs out?

If Ghana signs a trade agreement:

• Which Ghanaian businesses benefit?
• What products can we export?
• How many jobs could be created?

Development communication turns foreign policy from elite diplomacy into public accountability.

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10. Ghana needs a bipartisan national foreign-policy strategy

One of the dangers of Ghanaian politics is that every change of government can produce a change in emphasis.

Yet foreign policy requires continuity.

The good news is that Ghana already possesses a strong foundation. Article 40 of the 1992 Constitution provides principles including protection of Ghana’s interests, respect for international law, peaceful settlement of disputes and adherence to the principles of the UN, AU, ECOWAS and other international organisations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also begun work toward a comprehensive foreign-policy framework intended to respond to changing geopolitics, technology, climate pressures and economic dependency.

That process should produce something bigger than a government policy. It should produce a Ghanaian foreign-policy doctrine.

A doctrine that survives:

• NDC governments;
• NPP governments;
• military threats;
• economic crises;
• leadership changes.

Because national strategy should not change every four years.

The real meaning of strategic autonomy

Strategic autonomy should therefore not be understood as Ghana trying to become another China or United States.

Ghana will probably never have their military or economic capabilities. And it doesn’t need to. Our strength can come from a different combination:

Diplomatic credibility + democratic legitimacy + strategic geography + human capital + natural resources + African leadership + economic competence + technological capacity.

Autonomy is the capacity to manage interdependence on favourable terms.

From sovereignty to agency

Ghana won political independence in 1957. The next stage of the national project should be strategic autonomy.

But strategic autonomy will not come from rejecting the international system. It will come from becoming more capable within it.

We should trade with China without becoming dependent on China.

We should work with the IMF when necessary without building an economy that permanently requires IMF intervention.

We should welcome foreign investors without making foreign capital the only source of development.

We should maintain strong relations with the United States and Europe without becoming economically or intellectually dependent on the West.

We should embrace Pan-Africanism not merely as an identity but as an economic strategy.

And we should use diplomacy not merely to protect Ghana’s image abroad, but to create opportunities for Ghanaian citizens at home.

The Ministry’s current foreign-policy thinking increasingly reflects this direction: sovereignty, economic diplomacy, strategic partnerships, security, climate diplomacy, diaspora engagement and South-South cooperation are being brought together within a more comprehensive framework.

For me, this is where Ghana’s foreign policy must go.

Nkrumah gave us political independence. Our generation must build the economic, technological and intellectual capacity to make that independence meaningful.

Because a country is not truly autonomous simply because nobody governs it from outside. It is autonomous when it possesses enough capacity to decide its future, and enough power to make those decisions count.

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