The Accra Reset: Reimagining Global Governance for a New Era

The world is at a critical inflection point. Traditional models of international development and cooperation are cracking under the weight of converging crises—from climate shocks and pandemics to rising geopolitical tensions and the erosion of global aid frameworks. Against this backdrop, African leaders launched the Accra Reset, an initiative asserting that the era of “development-as-usual” is over, requiring a fundamental re-engineering of the logic of global cooperation.

What Is the Accra Reset?

The Accra Reset is a bold new framework to help re-imagine global governance architecture for health and development in the post-SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) era. Launched in September 2025 at the 80th United Nations General Assembly, the initiative represents one of the most ambitious African-led reform agendas in recent history.

Building on the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit held in August 2025, the initiative proposes prioritizing resilient coalitions, syndicates, and agile platforms capable of delivering concrete results amidst global polycrises, with the health sector serving as the initial focus to demonstrate this new thinking and inspire systemic action across all development sectors.

The Core Vision

President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, who leads the initiative, emphasizes that this is not merely aspirational. He described the initiative as launched not as a declaration or wish list, but as a practical response to questions being asked by millions of young Africans about their future in a changing world.

The fundamental challenge the Reset addresses is what some call Africa’s “triple dependency”: reliance on external security guarantees, dependence on donors for health and education, and continued export of raw materials without value addition. Mahama stressed that countries must “compete, innovate, and build or be left behind,” warning that Africa must pull itself up by its own bootstraps as post-World War II multilateral systems weaken and official development aid shrinks.

Institutional Framework

The Accra Reset operates through a multi-tiered governance structure:

The Global Presidential Council comprises heads of state from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and beyond, providing political leadership and ensuring accountability. Members attending the Davos convening in January 2026 include President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt, President William Samoei Ruto of Kenya, and President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with Nigeria and Papua New Guinea also represented.

The Guardians Circle brings together respected former leaders, including former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, lending wisdom and experience to the initiative.

The Global College of Advisors assembles leading experts in health, finance, innovation, and business to guide pilot projects and design new financing mechanisms.

Practical Implementation

Rather than remaining theoretical, the initiative includes the Club of Accra, which will pilot financing innovations and establish “geostrategic dealrooms” to channel investments into health, climate, food security, and job creation.

Why Now?

The timing is critical. The Accra Reset is timely amid intensifying great-power rivalries, the collapse of the global aid narrative, unprecedented trade tensions, and crises of climate shocks, cost of living, pandemics, and conflicts. The traditional donor-recipient model is unsustainable and increasingly ineffective.

A Broader Agenda

The initiative attempts to usher in a new period with different governance, business, and financing models to support responses to everything from climate change to food security, though health remains the initial focus area demonstrating the framework’s viability.

The Path Forward

Since its launch in late 2025, the Accra Reset has attracted strong momentum, with officials noting it is fast becoming a unifying framework for addressing long-standing development gaps while promoting home-grown solutions across the continent.

At its core, the Accra Reset represents a shift in narrative. Rather than Africa asking the world for help, it’s Africa proposing to lead—offering solutions rooted in its own context, values, and capacity. Mahama concluded with a call for African and global leaders to show courage and act collectively, warning that Africa’s young people are watching, saying “The question is not whether the world needs this. The question is whether we have the courage to build it”.

As the initiative unfolds through platforms like the World Economic Forum, its success could reshape how the Global South engages with global development challenges for decades to come.