…Launches Accra Reset as He Calls for African Health Sovereignty at UNGA80
By Prince Ahenkorah
President John Dramani Mahama’s Reset Agenda has earned international recognition following the official launch of Accra Reset at the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
On the sidelines of the global gathering, Mahama unveiled the Accra Reset, a landmark initiative calling for Africa to take its health destiny into its own hands while reimagining global governance and development.
Speaking at a high-level meeting of African Heads of State and Government convened by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), President Mahama urged African leaders to prioritize health sovereignty, warning that declining international assistance threatens to cripple Africa’s health systems.
“Health is not a cost. It is the engine of productivity and the foundation of sovereignty,” he declared.
Mahama cited recent U.S. Congressional cuts of $8 billion from international assistance budgets and the termination of $54 billion worth of USAID contracts as examples of the shrinking support.
Similar reductions among NATO allies, he noted, reflect a global shift of resources toward defense.
“If we do not take our health destiny into our own hands by shaping new strategies and partnerships, our citizens will be left without medicines, without vaccines, and without hope,” he cautioned.
Highlighting Ghana’s initiatives, Mahama pointed to the passage of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund Act (MahamaCare) to fund non-communicable disease treatment, the establishment of a National Vaccine Institute with GHS 75 million in seed funding, and plans for Free Primary Health Care to ensure universal access.
He also emphasized the decision to uncap the National Health Insurance Fund, restoring GHS 3.5 billion (about $300 million) in health financing. “This is proof of strong political will,” Mahama stressed.
Building on the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit recently held in Accra, Mahama launched the Accra Reset at UNGA under the theme “Accra Reset: Reimagining Global Governance for Health and Development.”
He explained that the Reset seeks to reform global governance with health as the entry point, ensuring Africa is not just invited to global discussions but serves as a co-designer and co-owner of solutions.
“Africa must not only be invited to global health discussions. Africa must be a co-convener, a co-designer, and a co-owner of solutions,” he said.
As AU Champion for African Financial Institutions, Mahama urged the world to adopt three bold shifts, Mindset, Focus, and Reality Shift
“Without new governance, business, and financing models, there can be no sustainable path for health, no resilience for economies, and no workable future for global solidarity,” he stated.
Mahama argued that the global health crisis reflects deeper failures in the current development system, rising inequality, crippling debt, and fragile supply chains. COVID-19, climate change, and debt burdens, he said, have reversed decades of progress.
“That is not sovereignty; that is subjugation by economics,” he declared.
But he also pointed to hope. More than $1 billion in reset-compatible pledges have already been secured from African development finance institutions and private banks, with tools like the Health Investor Multiplier and AfCFTA Hub positioned to accelerate action.
“Africa is only our starting point. The reset looks beyond today’s crisis and identifies new pivots of growth, biodiversity, climate resilience, nutrition, and empowerment economies. These are trillion-dollar opportunities for inclusive prosperity,” Mahama said.
To sustain the movement, Mahama announced the creation of a Presidential Council, made up of sitting and former heads of state from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, supported by a High-Level Expert Panel. Both will ensure commitments translate into measurable results.
“The question is not simply what new targets should replace the SDGs, but how we design institutions and financing systems that can actually deliver,” he emphasized.
While the Reset originated in Africa, Mahama underscored its global reach, noting support from Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Western partners, business leaders, and multilateral institutions.
“From Accra, a message went out to the world: if we are to heal our health systems, we must first reset development itself,” he said.
Mahama invoked the legacy of leaders like Kofi Annan and Olusegun Obasanjo, urging the world to show courage in the face of crisis.
“History will ask whether this generation, in the face of crisis, rose to the occasion. Let this be a positive turning point where we rise as partners and take our destiny into our own hands for present and future generations,” he declared.