By Ghana News

Copyright ghanamma

Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama, alongside a coalition of global leaders, has launched the Accra Reset, an ambitious new framework aimed at transforming global development financing and partnerships as part of a high-level side event during the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Mahama, who serves as the African Union Champion for African Financial Institutions, described the initiative as a bold response to what he termed a “fraying” global development architecture.

He pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which erased two decades of progress in under two years, growing debt burdens, and extreme climate shocks that now threaten over 700 million people with hunger.

“The world is only five years from 2030,” President Mahama said. “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.”

President Mahama referenced the 2001 Monterrey Consensus that led to the establishment of key global health financing platforms like GAVI and the Global Fund. He called for a similarly bold rethinking of multilateralism—one that shifts from aspirations to sustainable value creation.

The Accra Reset puts forward a new development architecture anchored in three key principles: sovereignty, workability, and shared value. The health sector will serve as the entry point and proof of concept—transitioning from aid dependency to health sovereignty. This builds on the outcomes of the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit held in Accra in August 2025.

To operationalise the Reset, a coalition known as the Club of Accra will pilot financing innovations and create “geostrategic dealrooms” to drive investment in health, climate, food security, and job creation.

One of the major announcements at the launch was the formation of a Global Presidential Council, bringing together leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and beyond to ensure political leadership and accountability. A Global College of Advisors will also be formed, made up of leading experts in health, finance, innovation, and business, to guide pilot projects and design new financing mechanisms.

The Accra Reset drew broad-based support from political, institutional, and private sector leaders.

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, co-convenor of the initiative and Co-Patron of AfroChampions, called for a new era of solidarity and a shift away from aid dependency.

Gordon Brown, former UK Prime Minister, described the initiative as “a plan for the future” and emphasised the importance of building health sovereignty.

A speech delivered on behalf of Kenyan President William Ruto highlighted the need for financing that matches national ambitions and called for the Global Presidential Council to be held accountable in delivering universal health coverage.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados pledged to align skills and industrial policies to support pharmaceutical manufacturing across the Global South.

Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Chairman of Access Bank, promised strong private sector leadership and financing. Support also came from Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organisation and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the World Trade Organization, who both endorsed the need to “rewire” outdated global norms.

With the Sustainable Development Goals deadline drawing near and less than half of the 169 targets on track, the Accra Reset is being positioned as a blueprint for realigning the global development agenda with today’s urgent realities.

Mahama to launch ‘Accra Reset’ at UNGA