ghananlpcommunity/ghana-gov-speeches-sentences huggingface dataset:
There is yet another historic event that is noteworthy but often overlooked- the outcome of the Bandung Conference in Indonesia, which eventually became the cornerstone of the NonAligned Movement (NAM).
The Bandung Conference was the first large-scale meeting between 29 Asian and African countries in April 1955.
Ghana gained independence from colonial rule in 1957 and became a Republic in 1960.
In that same year 1960, Ghana established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.
Ghana's visionary leader Dr.
Kwame Nkrumah was particularly enthusiastic of the relations between Ghana and the PRC.
Africa and China also have similar historical and contemporary backgrounds.
Both are cradles of human civilization with empires that flourished and exported knowledge.
China sees itself also as a developing country and therefore shows very close solidarity with the developing world including Africa.
In the current dispensation, Chinese African relations are guided by the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which meets every three years.
During this meeting, China agrees with 53 African countries on the trajectory and quantum of assistance it will provide.
Since 2001, it is estimated that China has provided almost $130 billion in loans to African countries.
Roads, bridges, railways, and other critical infrastructure have been built with Chinese support.
In my country Ghana, the Atuabo Gas Plant owned and operated by the Ghana National Gas Company, which receives, processes and supplies gas to power plants and other industrial users in the country was built with a Chinese Loan.
This cooperation has had a positive impact with a phenomenal increase in trade and investments between the continent and China.
China is Africa's largest trading partner.
Last year, it was estimated that trade between China and Africa grew by 35% and reached a whopping $256 billion.
China's main imports from Africa include minerals, metals, crude oil, and agricultural products.
Its main exports to Africa include industrial goods, construction materials, textiles, electronics, household goods, machinery and equipment, vehicles, and food products.
Between 2000 and 2017, China lent to African countries about $147 billion in long-term financing.
During that period, it also wrote-off about $3.4 billion and restructured almost $15 billion in debts to African countries.
It is also important to dispel a false notion that has gained widespread currency about relations between China and Africa.
There is no record of any asset of any African country that has been confiscated by China due to debt owed.
After many decades of close relations with China, it is time to retune the ties between the two sides to create a win-win situation for both partners.
As a continent, either as individual countries or the African Union, we must focus on innovativeness, dynamism and develop a workable, youth-centered and futuristic industrialization plan that propels the continent and helps reduce the trade imbalance between the two sides.
What should be the next phase in the Evolving Africa- China Cooperation?
What is true is that trade between us continues to increase year on year.
Not even the recent COVID pandemic and the resultant lockdowns affected trade between us.
African imports from China amount to roughly $148 billion, while exports from Africa to China is estimated at roughly $106 billion.
It is important to work together to bridge this trade deficit.
With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) taking off and looking positive, the trade experts are predicting that it will further bolster free trade between the continent and China.
What we must be concerned about however is how this trade benefits countries on the continent as much as it benefits China.
China is one of Africa’s biggest bilateral trading partners and will remain so.
There has been some good news already with China setting a target to increase its import of products from Africa to $300 billion by 2025.
We are also going to see an increase in the number of products African countries can export, tariff-free to China.
But what products will our countries be exporting to China?
Will we still be exporting farm and agricultural products, raw materials, unrefined precious minerals, and metals?
And in return import from China, technology, clothing, equipment, and electronics?
African countries must get to work, with the support of China to reduce our over-dependence on exporting our natural resources and create added value for African products.
African countries must work with China to build manufacturing capacity, especially in light industry for food processing, textiles, garments, and leather goods.
Africa has a large youthful labour force willing and able to work.
The next phase of expansion in China- Africa relations should be in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI).
Instead of just development cooperation, Africa needs FDI inflows from China to develop its manufacturing sector.
As was noted by Deborah Brautigam in a recent Reuters report, “Africa is trying to climb the same ladder.
But more than half a century after independence, Africa remains stuck in the trap of raw material exports.
Manufacturing makes up only about 10% of value added.
Ghana decades after independence still sends cocoa beans to Europe and imports chocolate and cocoa products.
Angola exports crude oil and imports nearly 80% of its refined fuel.”
Ethiopia should be a model for relations with China.
Today, it is reported that there are more than 400 Chinese manufacturing investments here, in Ethiopia, and the goods they produce are exported into the US and sourced by some of the major American buyers.
Why should the rest of Africa not look up to that model and get the support of China to develop same and contribute to a great industrialization drive on the continent?
Senegal has built a special economic enclave to attract Chinese and other manufacturing companies.
Rwanda, Mauritius, and South Africa are all making steady progress in manufacturing and value addition.
We must take advantage of AfCFTA, grow our value chains, and get ready for increased international trade.
Africa’s largest exporter to China was South Africa in 2020.
Next was Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Nigeria remains the largest buyer of Chinese goods, about $23 billion, followed by South Africa and Egypt.
Clearly, Africa's relations with China are here to stay.
Africans must take advantage and work to build our economies through the cooperation we have built over the decades with China.
My Fellow Ghanaians, Good Evening.
Today, May 7, 2025, marks 120 days since I had the profound honour of being sworn in as President of the Republic of Ghana for a new four-year term.
It is a day that I specifically noted on our calendar to come before you, the people of Ghana, to account for the critical first steps we promised to take in our initial months in office.
Our campaign was anchored on the vision of "Building the Ghana we want together," and our manifesto, "Rese[ng Ghana," laid out a bold yet pragmatic plan for national recovery and transformation.
Central to this plan was a social contract for the first 120 days—a set of specific, actionable promises designed to enable us to hit the ground running and signal our unwavering commitment to change.
I stand before you tonight to update you on how we have delivered these promises.
To the people of Ghana and the world observing our progress, let me state clearly: We made promises, and we have kept them.
Our first 120 days have been defined by decisive action, a commitment to transparency, and a relentless focus on laying the foundation for building the Ghana we want—a just, prosperous and united Ghana.
Good morning my brothers and sisters.
Today is October 7, exactly two months to the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.
This morning, the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, will be accompanied by other members of the party to submit and file my nomination with the Electoral Commission.
Today marks the beginning of victory for the people of Ghana, who are all desirous of a change in the political leadership because of the worsening living conditions they find themselves in, the slow pace of development, the nepotism and corruption that is engulfing almost every action of government, the state of insecurity and the trampling of the rights of many of our people.
Today marks the beginning of victory for John Dramani Mahama, the NDC and Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as we step out boldly, with the support of Ghanaians, to file our nomination for the 7th December election.
My brothers and sisters, the battle to transform our dear country starts now.
The change starts now!
It is our sacred duty to win this battle, to deliver true change – not for ourselves, but for all Ghanaians, who deserve to live a better and dignified life.
Ghana will be doomed if we stay four more years trapped within the fake reality, where the NPP propaganda machine paints a rosy picture that everything is perfect, while in reality it is rampant corruption, collapsing businesses, and never before seen levels of unemployment, and underdevelopment.
We have the moral duty to help stop this fake reality.
We have the moral duty to restore truth, because it is only the truth that can generate real prosperity for every Ghanaian.
This country and the good people of Ghana can simply not afford to waste four more years!
Four more years of lies and fake reality will widen the gap between Ghana and the developed nations almost beyond repair.
After four more years with an NPP government, we risk being seen as a poor country once again, overburdened with debt and unable to create prosperity.
Ladies and gentlemen, when in 2018 I took the decision to run again for the highest office of the land, I did it out of a sense of urgency, which gradually took over my heart after I began to contemplate more and more thoroughly about our vulnerabilities, as a country.
1 As a nation, we are weakened by multiple vulnerabilities.
Some are temporary and easy to deal with, but some are systemic.
And today, because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, these vulnerabilities have deepened.
We acquired a middle-income status a decade ago, and since then we have fought hard to consolidate and improve on our gains.
We have come a long way in the last ten years, but we are, today, facing a clear risk of being stuck at this level of development.
This is our major vulnerability as a nation.
This government has made no real effort to begin to create an economy that generates prosperity.
There has been very little investment in innovation and creativity – the main drivers of prosperity.
And we are still witnessing cases of institutional failure.
To create sustainable and ever-growing prosperity – something we all deserve – it requires building a robust social and economic infrastructure, one that supports creativity, innovation and the production of high value-added products and services.
The risk of becoming a country trapped in poverty is unfortunately boosted by the fact that while we are fighting hard to consolidate our status as a developing country, the advanced nations are in the middle of the fourth industrial revolution, transitioning from a post-industrial world to the world of smart technology – and from a production-based economy to a knowledge-based economy.
In simple words, the advanced world is moving in one direction, while we are still moving in the direction the world moved 20 or 30 years ago.
If we keep moving in this direction, we will become less and less competitive on the global market.
And this will condemn us to perpetual stagnation and backwardness.
This might happen because our main vulnerability as a nation is a weak infrastructure.
I have travelled round the country, deep into the hinterlands, meeting chiefs and interacting with communities and stakeholder groups.
Over the last four days, I have been here in the Western North Region, and because of President Nana Akufo-Addo’s decision to stop ongoing cocoa road projects, for example, many of our communities and cocoa growing areas are inaccessible or have very poor road networks.
Many of these communities are also still without mobile network connectivity, denying the people, students, teachers and health workers access to call and internet services, in this age.
This is precisely why, during my first term as President, I took aggressive steps to develop and consolidate our healthcare infrastructure, our educational infrastructure, our transport infrastructure and our digital infrastructure.
This is the only way to build a resilient nation.
Without creating and consolidating a developed infrastructure, no nation can prosper and resist global shocks, like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2012, Ghana’s GDP was 41 billion dollars.
In 2016, it was 55 billion dollars.
According to the facts, during my first term as President, we had an economic growth of almost $14 billion.
Ghana’s GDP in 2020 is projected to be somewhere around $59 billion.
This means that the current NPP government-managed an economic growth of only $4 billion in four years.
This is the difference between us and them: we delivered $14 billion growth in four years, while they delivered only $4 billion growth in four years.
Some might say: the reason NPP is delivering only four billion dollars growth is because we are now hit by a global crisis generated by COVID-19.
That may be true but during my first term as President, we had to face two years of a fall in commodity prices on the international market, which affected us.
For almost a year, thanks to a court case, the country was on a wait and see mode.
We also faced the Ebola epidemic.
So, you see, the conditions are similar, and this is why my comparison between my first term as President and Nana Addo’s term as President is relevant.
We both had to face dramatic situations.
The difference is that we, the NDC, faced them by delivering a $14 billion growth, while they, the NPP, are facing them by tearing our country apart and delivering only 4 billion dollars growth.
And there’s another big difference.
We, the NDC, did not only face dramatic crisis.
We also proved we were able to overcome them and moved Ghana forward.
They –the NPP – never proved they are able to overcome a significant crisis.
So, the facts are crystal clear: we are better than them, far better than them in delivering progress and growth.
This is why during this campaign we have to be far better than them – and I am absolutely sure that we will.
My brothers and sisters, we need to make Ghanaians hope again.
We need to make them feel they are listened to and taken care of.
We need to make Ghana work for everybody.
This is why in our Manifesto, the People’s Manifesto, we pledged to create One Million new and decent jobs over the next four years.
We will do it, I guarantee you!
Let me give you just one example of how we’ll do it.
We will turn our economy into a 24-hour economy, with factories working 24 hours a day every day, especially in the production of high- end goods not only for export but also for the local market.
The additional shifts will create a significant number of new jobs.
And, since we are talking about the production of high-end goods, they will be decent jobs, with decent salaries, which will allow people to live a dignified life.
In the People’s Manifesto, we also pledge that every Ghanaian will have access and benefit from a Free Primary Health Care Plan.
This will include cure, prevention and health promotion.
When you visit a district hospital, polyclinic, health centre or CHPS compound, you will be attended to for free.
I guarantee that we will deliver on this, because access to healthcare is a human right and because we, the NDC, are always putting people first.
Ghanaians deserve to have access to free primary healthcare services.
We have also outlined elaborately how we will place Ghana at par with nations which have already embraced the fourth industrial revolution.
We will develop our digital economy at a highly accelerated pace, one that has never been witnessed, here in Ghana.
This is why in the People’s Manifesto, we pledged to provide universal and affordable internet access to all Ghanaians.
We will also train One Million Coders, who will become the backbone of our digital economy.
Digital companies serve clients all over the world, and they pay decent salaries.
With our plan to train one million coders, our digital economy will flourish – and a significant number of new and decent jobs will be created.
This is great news for our young people.
They are creative, they are innovative, their entrepreneurial spirit is an inspiration – and we are offering them a significant opportunity to help us create a 21st Century Ghana.
Because of the impact of COVID-19 and in response to the challenges many parents and self- financing students face, the NDC has decided that tertiary students will pay 50% only of their tuition fees for the 2020/21 academic year.
This is what we call the KYEMPE policy.
It is important because many homes and businesses are yet to recover from the shocks and impact of the pandemic.
Ghanaians, therefore, have every reason to have hope again.
We, the NDC, are offering a future to be proud of.
My brothers and sisters, beyond the powerful pledges in our Manifesto, this campaign is about our true vision – and about you!
All the attacks and lies won’t stop us from delivering on our vision.
We are better than ever before; we are more prepared than ever before.
We faced real challenges in the past and we overcame them, so we know how to deal with them.
This campaign is about all of us, together.
Today, from Dwinase here in Wiawso, I am launching our campaign for 2020 with the largest and most effective door-to-door campaign in Ghana’s history.
We will touch every soul, we will heal every wound, we will restore dignity and truth.
To all my compatriots across the various branches and constituencies, I entreat you all to take our message to the people.
Share the People’s Manifesto with them, and let every community understand what is in this book for them.
My Running Mate, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who is in the Eastern Region now, will also continue her activities today with a community door to door campaign.
We have broken our messages into simple fliers, and also produced an abridged version of the manifesto, to make it easier for all to have access and get the details.
You can also download these documents from my website, or download the JOHN MAHAMA App on your phone or device and get access to the People’s Manifesto.
Let me thank my brother, Johnson Asiedu Nketia for submitting the nomination forms on our behalf.
I want to assure all the teeming supporters of the NDC, sympathisers, well-wishers and the millions waiting to vote for John Mahama, Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang and the NDC that we are winning this election.
We are determined and the Electoral Commission and indeed no institution can and should try to subvert the will of the people.
We have had concern to draw the Commission’s attention to many instances of infractions and actions that have not satisfied us.
While we are expecting that the Commission will live above reproach, I want to assure you all that the NDC is very well prepared and we will police the ballot from all polling stations, through the constituencies to the regional to the National Collation Centres.
This is our battle for Ghana’s future.
Embrace it like your life depends on it because Ghana deserves to be a place where everyone has a chance to thrive and prosper.
We are the people’s rescuers!
Feel it!
Believe it!
And let’s deliver it!
May God bless Ghana!
May God bless every one of you!
Let’s win this one for Ghana!
CONCESSION SPEECH OF PRESIDENT MAHAMA My fellow Ghanaians, My Brothers and Sisters, A while ago, I phoned Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and offered him my congratulations for emerging the winner of the 2016 Presidential Elections.
Every election is a hard-fought battle, and this one was no exception.
For those of us who choose to be contenders and go into electoral contests, we go about it as a win-lose proposition.
We believe that only one person can emerge as the winner.
And while it is true that only one person can be elected President, in reality, and certainly in a democracy such as ours, every election is an opportunity for the people of this nation to express their will, to have their say in who will lead them in the shaping of Ghana’s future.
In this way, each victory belongs to the people.
And the true winner is always Ghana.
It is precisely on account of my belief in Ghana and its future that notwithstanding the irregularities associated with this election, I have decided at this stage to congratulate the President-elect.
With this understanding, I would like to assure the people of Ghana of my commitment to the sustenance of our country’s democracy and would work to ensure a smooth and peaceful transition to the incoming administration.
I remain committed to the unity and stability of our great nation.
I am profoundly grateful to the almighty God and the people of Ghana for the opportunity to serve in the high office of President.
As President, I have done my bit and made a contribution to the political, social and economic development of our country.
I would have cherished an opportunity to do even more, but I respect the will of the Ghanaian people.
I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to the individuals who have made this journey with me.
I wish to thank all of the people who worked on my campaign for their dedication and tireless efforts.
I wish to thank the leadership of the NDC, all of our members, foot soldiers and sympathizers for their belief in the principles of social democracy and their commitment to the vision.
Likewise, I would like to thank the members of my administration for their diligent service and for bringing to fruition many of the plans we set out to accomplish—the numerous programs that have been implemented and the infrastructural projects that have been completed and ongoing.
I wish to thank my able Vice President Kwesi Amissah Arthur for his unflinching support and loyalty during our period in office.
To the service commanders and men and women in uniform, I wish to extend my profound gratitude to you for your selfless service to Ghana.
I thoroughly enjoyed working with you to ensure the internal and external security of our country.
To organised labour, the civil and public services, traditional rulers, the clergy, workers, youth groups and all identifiable bodies, I am immensely appreciative of your contributions to the development of our country in the last four years.
I wish to thank my family: my children, my brothers, and sisters, and especially my wife, Lordina, for standing as firmly with me through the times of challenge and difficulty as they have through the times of achievement and promise.
Most importantly, I am grateful to the almighty God who has sustained us through the implementation of the Agenda for Transformation.
I am eternally grateful.
Ghana, this land that we all call home, is a powerful nation with a history of taking the improbable and making it possible.
We have been a leader on so many fronts, not just on this continent but also in the world--from our attainment of independence, to our development of a democracy that maintains at its core a pledge of stability and a respect for the rule of law, to our formation of much-needed peacekeeping and other humanitarian missions for other nations in need.
And we have been able to do all of these things because we have always functioned as one nation, one people.
Notwithstanding our diversity, religious faiths, ethnic groups and political affiliations, we have always recognized that we are all, ultimately, on the same side—the side of Ghana and its progress.
We see all throughout the world in countries that are much older than ours the devastation that division and intolerance bring.