Addis Ababa, October 24, 2026 (FMC) — Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has described the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa as an “open marketplace of ideas,” underscoring its distinctive role in fostering candid debate, strategic foresight and African-led solutions to the continent’s peace and security challenges.
Opening the 12th edition of the forum in Bahir Dar, Mahama said the gathering provides an authentic African space for discussing continental priorities beyond rigid diplomatic formalities. He linked its identity to the wisdom, shared values and moral responsibility symbolized by the Baobab tree, which serves as the forum’s emblem.
“An open marketplace of ideas” was how Mahama characterized the forum’s purpose as participants began two days of deliberations. He invited delegates to use the platform for frank reflection and collective problem-solving at a time when Africa faces complex security, governance and development challenges.
Having chaired the Tana Forum Board for nearly nine years, Mahama said returning to Bahir Dar, on the shores of Lake Tana and near the source of the Blue Nile, carried personal and institutional significance. The return to the forum’s traditional home, he said, reconnects participants with its founding vision.
For more than a decade, he noted, the forum has offered a distinctive platform for discussing Africa’s peace, governance and security imperatives. Its value, in his remarks, lies in creating room for candid exchanges and strategic thinking grounded in African experiences and priorities.
Mahama stressed that sustainable peace must rest on African ownership, lived realities and continental agency. He argued that the continent’s diverse experiences and collective strengths provide multiple pathways to peace, while emphasizing the need to turn discussion into practical outcomes.
“Let us bridge the gap between policy formulation and transformative implementation,” he told delegates, urging them to approach their deliberations with intellectual courage, honesty and humility.
He concluded by calling for collective resolve to build an Africa that is prosperous, self-reliant, peaceful and sovereign, framing the Tana Forum not merely as a venue for debate, but as a space where shared reflection should lead to action.