President John Dramani Mahama, together with world leaders, has launched the Accra Reset, a bold framework aimed at reshaping global development institutions, financing, and partnerships as the world approaches the end of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) era.
The initiative was unveiled at a high-level side event during the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. President Mahama, who serves as the African Union Champion for African Financial Institutions, was joined by heads of state, multilateral leaders, and private sector partners.
In his remarks, President Mahama cautioned that the current development architecture is under severe strain. He pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic erased two decades of progress in under two years, while climate shocks now threaten more than 735 million people with hunger. Many developing countries, he added, spend more servicing debt than investing in health and education.
“With fewer than half of the 169 SDG targets on track, development-as-usual must end. The world is only five years from 2030. The question is not simply what new targets should replace the SDGs, but how we design institutions and financing systems that actually work. Workability is the name of the game now—innovative financing instruments, new business models and smarter coalitions that multiply resources rather than ration them.”
Co-convened by President Mahama and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Accra Reset is anchored in sovereignty, workability, and shared value. Health will serve as the entry point, transitioning from aid dependency to health sovereignty, building on commitments made at the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit in Accra in August 2025.
A Club of Accra coalition will pilot innovative financing and “geostrategic dealrooms” to drive investment in health, climate, food security, and job creation. The framework also introduces a Global Presidential Council, uniting leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America and beyond to provide political leadership and accountability, alongside a Global College of Advisors made up of eminent experts in health, finance, innovation, and business.
Supporters of the launch included:
- Olusegun Obasanjo, Co-Patron of AfroChampions, urged solidarity “fit for the new era” and a move away from aid dependency.
- Gordon Brown, who described the Reset as “a plan for the future” and endorsed building health sovereignty.
- President William Ruto of Kenya (via prepared remarks) stressed financing national ambition and ensuring accountability through the Global Presidential Council.
- Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados pledged alignment on skills and industrial policy to boost pharmaceutical manufacturing.
- Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Chairman of Access Bank, has committed significant private-sector leadership and financing.
- Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who both conveyed institutional support for “rewiring” global norms.
President Mahama also recalled the Monterrey Consensus of 2001, which gave birth to GAVI and the Global Fund, stressing the need for “a new vision of multilateralism” that shifts from wish lists to engines of sustainable value creation.
The launch of the Accra Reset was announced in a statement signed by Felix Kwakye Ofosu (MP), Spokesperson to the President and Minister for Government Communications.
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
