Mahama Warns Against Over-Regulation, Urges African Governments to Empower Private Sector
President John Dramani Mahama has cautioned African governments against over-regulation of businesses, warning that such practices are stifling innovation, choking private sector growth, and undermining the continent’s economic potential.
Speaking at a private-public business dialogue during the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IX) on Thursday, August 21, 2025, President Mahama urged governments to treat businesses as genuine partners in development rather than adversaries.
“The public sector must see the private sector as partners and not an irritant,” he noted, criticising the tendency of African governments to crowd out the private sector while merely paying lip service to the idea of it being the “engine of growth.”
Using a metaphor, the former President explained:
“Now, everybody uses the hackneyed phrase that the private sector is an engine of growth. But how does an engine operate if you don’t give it the right fuel, healthy fuel, engine, and hydraulic oil, for it to be able to operate properly? That’s the role of the public sector—to create a policy framework that enables private sector growth.”
He stressed that businesses cannot be expected to carry the burden of development unless they are guaranteed profitability.
“The private sector is not Father Christmas. It will go where it can get a good rate of return on investment. And so it’s the government’s duty to create the space for the private sector to exercise its creativity,” President Mahama added.
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