Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has called for African leaders to explore ways of sharing the wealth of this continent for the African youth. He made these remarks on Friday 29th August, 2026, when he addressed the African Union Executive Council’s 26th Extraordinary Session on Conflict Resolution and Prevention in Angola.
We need to take a new path, he stated. “We have pursued all these AU paradigms and protocols and convened meetings to recapitalize the Peace Fund. But perhaps what we should begin to recapitalize, in all humility, is our heart and our mindset. Can we be more tolerant of each other? Can we be more compassionate? Can we be more visionary about the root causes of conflict? We can have $1 billion, $10 billion, $100 billion in a Peace Fund, but it will mean nothing if we do not change course, if we do not adopt a new leadership paradigm”.
He referred to last year’s report by the International organization for Migration (IOM) which stated that over 2,180 young Africans died in the Mediterranean looking for greener pastures. He called for the need to recommit to job creation, industrialization, real decentralization, sharing the wealth of this continent; the diamonds, the gold, the bauxite, the oil and gas that we have been blessed with if Africa is to stem this sad and dehumanizing state of affairs.
Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa posed the question: how can Africa, the richest continent, share these rich resources for the African youth? This is a new paradigm that we need for our continent.
