President John Dramani Mahama has warned that Ghana’s Accra Reset agenda cannot succeed without stronger cooperation and reforms within the global system.
He said Ghana’s efforts to reset its economy, fiscal management, governance structures and industrial sector must be complemented by changes in the global architecture, particularly in trade, finance and health governance.
President Mahama made the remarks on Monday, September 21, 2026, while addressing a high-level side event on the Accra Reset: Global Reset Dialogue at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“We are resetting our national economy, fiscal management, governance structures, and industrial sector. But as we undertake this heavy lifting at home, one truth becomes clear: you cannot successfully reset a national house if the global architecture around it remains fundamentally flawed.”
Ghana’s industrialisation requires regional market access
According to President Mahama, Ghana’s industrialisation drive will require access to markets beyond the country, particularly the African regional market, to ensure that locally manufactured products have sufficient demand.
He linked this approach to the government’s broader agenda of economic self-reliance and local value addition.
He said Ghana’s domestic agenda, including the 24-Hour Economy initiative, public health infrastructure, transparent governance and efforts to strengthen local production, reflects the objectives of the Accra Reset.
Building local capacity in healthcare
President Mahama also used Ghana’s health sector as an example of the need to reduce dependence on external support.
He said resetting the health sector should go beyond constructing medical facilities while relying on foreign donors for essential medicines and medical supplies.
Instead, he advocated for stronger domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing, supported by guaranteed government purchasing and access to regional markets.
“We mean building local industrial capacity, encouraging our domestic pharmaceutical companies in Ghana to manufacture essential medicines locally, backed by guaranteed state purchasing and regional market access.”
He said the same principle should guide the Accra Reset at the international level, arguing that domestic transformation and global reform must move together.
‘No ownership without control’
President Mahama identified geostrategic marginalisation, geopolitical vulnerability and donor dependence as three interconnected challenges facing the Global South.
He argued that political independence had not necessarily translated into control over the global systems governing trade, finance and health.
“Today, through the Accra Reset, we declare unequivocally that there can be No Ownership Without Control.”
However, he also cautioned that greater control must be accompanied by accountability at the national level.
He said Ghana’s Resetting Ghana Agenda includes measures to tighten fiscal controls, fight corruption and ensure that public funds are properly accounted for.
Global health reform
President Mahama said Ghana and its partners are moving from the design stage of the Accra Reset towards implementation.
He announced plans for Ghana and the Presidential Council to engage governments, global health organisations, development finance institutions, philanthropies and private-sector organisations to translate the recommendations of the initiative into country-level agreements.
The President also officially launched A Sovereign Future for Health, a report containing ten recommendations developed by a High-Level Panel on Reform of the Global Health Architecture and Governance.
He said the initiative would focus on building sustainable networks linking research, regulation, local manufacturing and reliable distribution.
Ghana to take agenda to AU
With Ghana preparing to assume the chairmanship of the African Union in 2027, President Mahama said the country would seek to take the Accra Reset agenda into Africa’s collective policy framework.
He said Ghana would work with the African Union, the Non-Aligned Movement and the G77 plus China to advance the initiative.
“The Panel has completed its assignment. Now, the responsibility falls on us to deliver its promise.”
President Mahama said the ultimate objective of the New Global Bargain is to ensure that ownership is backed by real control, cooperation is guided by human dignity, and international commitments translate into tangible protection for people across the world.
