Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah with other dignitaries
The Center for Democratic Development Ghana (CDD-Ghana), a research and advocacy organization focused on promoting democracy, good governance, and human rights in Ghana, has launched its international desk in Accra on April 24, 2025.
The objectives of the desk are to track and analyze global, continental and regional gopolitical trends. Assess their impacts on democratic governance, civic space and inclusive development across Africa. They also hope to produce timely data-driven research and policy analysis to guide public discourse, support African-led responses to foreign influence, and shape international policy agendas centred on good governance.
A research analyst for CDD Ghana, Emmanuel Yeboah explained that the aim of the desk is to serve as a regional hub for civil society media and policy actors fostering cross border collaboration, capacity building to amplify Africa’s voice in global areas with special focus on foreign influence on power shift, disinformation ecosystems digital manipulation propaganda, civil space and rising authoritarianism in the region as well as democracy and political stability alongside security and military engagement in West Africa.
“Our objective is to serve as a regional hub for civil society, media and policy actors, fostering cross-border collaboration, capacity building, and advocacy to amplify Africa’s voice in global affairs. So, there are some thematic areas we are focusing on, the first one is on foreign influence on power shift, the second one is on disinformation ecosystems and digital manipulation propaganda, civil space and rising authoritarianism in the region, as well as democracy and political stability alongside security and military engagement in west Africa,” he said.
The Commissioner of Political Affairs for ECOWAS, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, explained that for West Africa to benefit from geopolitical shifts, there is the need to make sure partnerships are a win-win or to the advantage of the development of the continent, particularly in uplifting the young people, since the sub-region finds itself in the middle of global geopolitical shifts, with all the factions focussing on the rise of their respective countries Africa has to do the same.
“West Africa today finds itself in the clutches of geostrategic and geopolitical shifts globally, and all the various groups that are involved in Africa all of them come with their country’s best interest at heart. So, the important thing is for Africa to also assert insurgency in order to benefit from these geostrategic and geopolitical shifts by either making sure that partnerships are on a win-win formula or to the advantage of the development of the continent,” he explained.
He also explained that Africa needs to start devising African solutions to African problems, implying that the continent has what it takes in terms of natural resources, along with adequate spatial environment. Further explaining that to do this, effective partnerships would go a long way.
“We need to devise African solutions to many of the challenges that are confronting the continent, and we have what it takes in terms of natural resources, Africa has them in abundance, in terms of spatial environment, Africa is about the biggest continent in the world so what we need is how do we transform our raw material and that requires effective partnership,” he added.
By Sarpong Owusu Vera