President John Dramani Mahama has called for a bold redesign of the global development system as he led world leaders to launch the Accra Reset at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The high-level side event brought together heads of state, multilateral leaders, and private sector partners to unveil the new framework, which seeks to re-engineer international institutions, financing, and partnerships as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) era approaches its deadline.
Opening the session, President Mahama warned that the current system was no longer delivering results.
“COVID-19 erased two decades of progress in less than two years, extreme climate shocks threaten nearly 735 million people with hunger, and many developing countries spend more on debt than on health and education,” he said.
“With fewer than half of the SDG targets on track, development-as-usual must end.”
He stressed that the global community had only five years left to 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.”
The Accra Reset, co-convened with former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, is anchored in three pillars: sovereignty, workability, and shared value.
Health will serve as the entry point, transitioning from aid dependency to “health sovereignty,” drawing on commitments from the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit held in Accra in August.
A Club of Accra Coalition will pilot financing innovations and create “geostrategic dealrooms” for investments in health, climate resilience, food security, and job creation.
The initiative also introduced the Global Presidential Council, a bloc of Heads of State from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and other regions to provide political leadership and accountability.
A Global College of Advisors, composed of experts in health, finance, innovation, and business, will support the design and oversight of new mechanisms. Several global leaders voiced support for the Reset.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo urged solidarity “fit for the new era,” stressing that Africa must move decisively away from aid dependency.
Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the initiative as “a plan for the future” and threw his weight behind building health sovereignty.
Kenyan President William Ruto, in remarks delivered on his behalf, highlighted the need to “finance national ambition” and called for the Global Presidential Council to be held accountable for achieving universal health coverage.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley pledged practical alignment on skills and industrial policy to make pharmaceutical manufacturing viable.
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Chairman of Access Bank, pledged significant private-sector leadership and financing.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, both signaled institutional support for “rewiring” global norms.
Concluding the event, President Mahama drew a parallel with the Monterrey Consensus of 2001, which led to the creation of GAVI and the Global Fund.
“The world now needs a new vision of multilateralism, one that moves from wish lists to engines of sustainable value creation,” he said.
Story: Patrick Asford Boadu
