President John Dramani Mahama has revealed that Ghana’s move to pursue a partnership with the BRICS bloc was based on a recommendation made under the previous Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration.
According to him, a ministerial committee established by the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) government had recommended that Ghana pursue partnership status with the bloc before the current administration took office.
In a video shared by Channel One TV on November 5, 2026, Mahama explained that his government inherited the recommendation and subsequently approved it after Cabinet reviewed the proposal.
“The ministerial committee that sat and recommended that Ghana should accede to BRICS partnership was under Nana Akufo-Addo. We came and met the recommendation, and so we didn’t set up the ministerial committee,” he said.
The President further disclosed that the committee had submitted its recommendation to Cabinet under the former administration, although the final approval was given after his government assumed office.
“It was set up under the former NPP administration, and the recommendation was submitted to Cabinet. When we came, we met it, and the Cabinet sat on it and said it was a good idea to be a BRICS partner, so we approved it,” he stated.
Mahama also sought to clarify Ghana’s intended relationship with the bloc, stressing that the country is pursuing partnership status rather than full membership.
“Let me make it clear: there’s BRICS membership, and there’s BRICS partnership. We’re not going as a BRICS member; we’re going as a partner,” he clarified.
He rejected suggestions that the decision represents a departure from Ghana’s non-aligned foreign policy, arguing that the partnership arrangement is consistent with the country’s existing international economic relationships.
Using Ghana’s Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with European countries as an example, Mahama said the BRICS arrangement does not mean the country is shifting its foreign policy allegiance.
“For instance, with Europe, we have the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). They are the same as the BRICS partnership, and so it just fits with our non-aligned status. We’re not drifting anywhere,” he added.
His comments place the origins of Ghana’s BRICS partnership proposal under the Akufo-Addo administration, while making clear that the Mahama government took the decision to approve the recommendation.
