News Guide Africa

Tag: Accra Reset

  • Mahama unveils high-level panel for ‘Accra Reset’ to reform global health architecture

    Mahama unveils high-level panel for ‘Accra Reset’ to reform global health architecture

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

     

    ​In a bold move to challenge the long-standing imbalances in international healthcare, the Chancery of the Accra Reset has officially announced the formation of a high-level panel tasked with a radical overhaul of the global health governance system.

     

    ​The initiative, championed by President John Dramani Mahama, seeks to transition the Global South from passive recipients of international aid to sovereign architects of global health policy.

     

    ​A Powerhouse of Global Leadership

     

    ​The eighteen-member panel is anchored by four co-chairs representing a bridge between seasoned diplomacy and active ministerial leadership:

    ​Peter Piot: Former Director-General of UNAIDS.

    ​El Hadj As Sy: Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation.

    ​Nisia Trindade: Minister for Health of Brazil.

    ​Budi Gunadi Sadikin: Minister for Health of Indonesia.

     

    ​To ensure the panel’s proposals are both revolutionary and actionable, Michel Sidibé, the former Minister for Health of Mali and former Executive Director of UNAIDS, has been appointed as Special Advisor and Envoy of the Co-Chairs. His deep operational knowledge of the current system is expected to be a catalyst for meaningful reform.

     

    ​Reimagining Sovereignty

     

    ​The mandate of the Accra Reset is clear: to dismantle a “paternalistic” global order and replace it with a system where African and Global South nations exercise full health and economic sovereignty.

     

    ​”This initiative represents a fundamental reimagining of how global health governance should function in the 21st century,” stated Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Spokesperson to the President and Minister for Government Communications.

     

    ​Strategic Integration

     

    ​The panel will not work in a vacuum. It is supported by a High-Level Consultative Group featuring the “heavyweights” of the current international system, ensuring that the proposed reforms have a direct pathway into the halls of power. Members include:

    ​Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Director-General, WHO)

    ​Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Director-General, WTO)

    ​Leadership from Africa CDC, The Global Fund, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

     

    ​A Galaxy of Experts

     

    ​The full panel includes a “who’s who” of global health expertise, featuring Nigerian Health Minister Mohammed Pate, the MasterCard Foundation’s John Nkengasong, and former WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan.

    ​As the world continues to grapple with the aftershocks of recent pandemics and inequitable vaccine distribution, the Accra Reset stands as a definitive African-led response to ensure that the rules of the future are written by those they affect most.

     

     

  • The Accra Reset: anchored on sovereignty, workability, and shared value attracts global endorsements

     

    President John Mahama speaking at the launch of Accra Reset

     

     

     

     

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

     

    Accra Reset, a bold framework aimed at re-engineering global development institutions, financing, and partnerships as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) era nears its close, launched.

     

    During a side-event at 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York,co-convened by President John Dramani Mahama and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, set the Accra Reset in motion.

     

    The event was heavily graced and witnessed by other heads of state, multilateral leaders, and private sector partners.

     

    President Mahama, the African Union Champion for African Financial Institutions, in his opening remarks called the attention of global intelligence leaders to the reality that the current global development architecture is “fraying.” Citing that, COVID-19 wiped out two decades of progress in less than two years, extreme climate shocks have left nearly 735 million people at risk of hunger, and many developing nations now spend more on servicing debt than on health and education. With fewer than half of the 169 SDG targets on track, he stressed that “development-as-usual must end.”

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

     

    The Accra Reset is anchored on sovereignty, workability, and shared value.

     

    Health will serve as the entry point and proof of concept, shifting from aid dependency to health sovereignty, and building on commitments made at the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit in Accra in August 2025.

     

    A Club of Accra coalition is expected to initiate pilot financing innovations and “geostrategic dealrooms” for investments in health, climate resilience, food security, and job creation.

     

    The launch also unveiled the Global Presidential Council, a coalition of Heads of State and Government from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and beyond, tasked with providing political leadership and accountability. In parallel, a Global College of Advisors, comprising leading experts in health, finance, innovation, and business, will be established to design and oversee pilots and financing mechanisms.

     

    The event drew strong endorsements from political and institutional leaders:

    Olusegun Obasanjo, Co-Patron of AfroChampions, urged solidarity “fit for the new era” and a decisive shift away from aid dependency.

     

    Gordon Brown described the Reset as “a plan for the future” and endorsed the vision for building health sovereignty.

     

    President William Ruto (in remarks read on his behalf) emphasized financing national ambitions and holding the Global Presidential Council accountable for universal health coverage.

     

    Prime Minister Mia Mottley pledged alignment on skills and industrial policy to make pharmaceutical manufacturing viable.

     

    Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Chairman of Access Bank, committed significant private sector leadership and financing.

     

    Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (WHO) and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (WTO) expressed institutional support for “rewiring” global norms.

     

    Concluding the launch, President Mahama recalled the Monterrey Consensus of 2001, which paved the way for GAVI and the Global Fund, noting that the world now requires “a new vision of multilateralism—one that moves from wish lists to engines of sustainable value creation.”