Organises high-level conferences on governance and development issues in Africa, including a 2026 convening on critical minerals and political finance regulation.
… It is precisely this gap that the Open Society Foundations have sought to address by promoting democratic governance, human rights, accountable institutions, and the meaningful participation of marginalised voices in decision-making processes. …
A three-day Regional High-Level Conference on Governance, Critical Minerals, and Conflict in Africa ended in Accra with calls for stronger governance systems, transparency, and greater citizen participation in decisions concerning mineral resources. Delegates also urged African countries to move beyond exporting raw minerals by investing in beneficiation, refining, manufacturing, and skills development to create greater value and employment on the continent.
A three-day Regional High-Level Conference on Governance, Critical Minerals, and Conflict in Africa ended in Accra with calls for stronger governance systems, transparency, and greater citizen participation in decisions concerning mineral resources. Delegates also urged African countries to move beyond exporting raw minerals by investing in beneficiation, refining, manufacturing, and skills development to create greater value and employment on the continent.
A three-day high-level conference in Accra concluded with calls for African governments to adopt a governance framework centred on transparency, democratic accountability, industrialisation and citizen participation in the continent's critical minerals sector.
A three-day conference organised by the Open Society Foundations is taking place in Accra to examine the nexus between governance, critical minerals, and conflict in Africa. Speakers emphasised that transparent and inclusive governance is needed for critical minerals to drive development rather than deepen inequality and instability.
Presidential Advisor Goosie Tanoh called on African countries to build industries and add value to critical minerals rather than exporting raw materials, citing the opportunity to create decent jobs and strengthen peace on the continent. The call was made at a high-level conference on Governance, Critical Minerals and Conflict in Africa organised by the Open Society Foundations in Accra.
The Millennium Development Authority CEO told a Accra conference on July 27 that Africa's future will be defined not by its critical mineral resources but by how wisely they are governed, and that effective governance can promote economic justice, democratic governance, and peace while preventing conflict in resource-rich communities.
President John Dramani Mahama has called on African governments to place the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) at the centre of their development strategies and use it as a catalyst for industrialisation and economic transformation. His remarks came at the opening of a High-Level Conference on Governance, Critical Minerals and Conflict in Africa in Accra, where he stressed that Africa must responsibly harness its critical mineral resources to promote peace and drive sustainable economic transformation.
The Acting CEO of the Millennium Development Authority has urged African leaders to prevent the continent's emerging critical minerals boom from becoming another resource curse, calling instead for an approach centred on good governance, value addition and inclusive development. He made the call at a High-Level Conference on Governance, Critical Minerals and Conflict in Africa in Accra, warning that Africa must decide what it wants for itself, not just what the world wants from the continent.
Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, former UN Office for West Africa Head, has urged African leaders to enact strong political finance rules to ensure transparency in campaign funding. He was speaking at a High-Level Convening in Ghana where the Accra Declaration on Regulating Financing of Politics in Africa was adopted to advance democratic integrity on the continent.
African policymakers, anti-corruption agencies, and civil society organisations have adopted the Accra Declaration on Regulating Financing of Politics to Advance Democratic Integrity in Africa, calling for coordinated continental action to strengthen transparency, accountability and integrity in political financing. The declaration, adopted at a three-day conference in Accra held from July 14 to 16, warns that growing influence of money in politics is threatening democratic governance and eroding public confidence in institutions.
The POS Foundation has welcomed Parliament's passage of the Community Service Bill, 2026, which will allow courts to impose community service orders instead of custodial sentences for eligible offenders convicted of offences punishable by prison terms of less than three years. The Foundation says the law will reduce prison overcrowding, facilitate offender rehabilitation and reintegration, and strengthen restorative justice.
Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, Second Vice-President of the Pan-African Parliament, has urged African governments to invest in economic empowerment of citizens alongside political financing reforms, arguing that poverty drives money politics and that legal frameworks alone cannot safeguard democratic governance.
The Chairperson of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption has identified opaque political party financing as a major enabler of corruption, illicit financial flows, and state capture in Africa, urging governments to enact and enforce laws regulating political funding to ensure elections reflect the will of citizens rather than hidden financiers' interests.
Ghana has called for urgent reforms to political financing across Africa, warning that growing money influence is undermining democratic integrity, excluding capable leaders, and weakening public trust in institutions. Deputy Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem told attendees at a regional convening in Accra that rising campaign costs are preventing competent citizens, women, and young people from participating in politics.
An opinion piece argues that the G7, representing a small fraction of the world's population, exerts disproportionate influence over global finance, trade, technology standards, security, and development despite globalization being presented as a grand equalizer that would disperse power beyond traditional centres.
As ECOWAS prepares for a leadership change in July 2026, the regional bloc confronts its greatest test since 1975, with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger having withdrawn and democratic governance across West Africa coming under pressure from military coups and constitutional upheaval.
As ECOWAS prepares for a leadership transition in July 2026, the Economic Community of West African States confronts its greatest test since 1975, with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger having departed and democratic governance under pressure across the region.
Many African countries hold elections and adopt constitutions, but lack genuine legitimacy rooted in social contracts with their citizens, raising questions about whether they are true democratic states or merely territorial administrations. The distinction between "African states" shaped by legitimacy and shared identity versus "states in Africa" as colonial constructions is central to the continent's democratic future.
Recurring xenophobic attacks against African migrants in South Africa undermine continental solidarity and Pan-Africanism, with Ghana formally petitioning the African Union to address the issue at its Mid-Year Coordination Meeting as a matter of urgent continental interest. Nigeria's Senate has also demanded accountability following attacks and reported deaths of Nigerian nationals.