President John Dramani Mahama has announced that the Accra Reset initiative has moved from dialogue to action, unveiling concrete programmes and partnerships at the ‘Addis Reckoning’ event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday.
The President disclosed that the initiative, which began at the Health Sovereignty Summit in Accra, gained political voice at the UN General Assembly, was tested in Davos, and has now entered its action phase in Addis Ababa.
Speaking at the Accra Reset side event on the margins of the 39th Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, President Mahama told continental leaders and chief executives of private businesses and multilateral organizations that Africa has reached a turning point it cannot afford to ignore.
“We began this dialogue at the Health Sovereignty Summit in Accra. I gave it political voice at the UN General Assembly, tested them in Davos, and today in Addis Ababa, we move into action,” President Mahama stated.
The President announced the establishment of a High-Level Panel on Reform of Global Health Architecture, co-chaired by Professor Peter Piot, Honourable Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Chancellor El Hadj As Sy, and Honourable Nísia Trindade Lima.
He explained that through the Accra Reset, every finance minister now understands that health is the foundation of productivity and stability, not a budget drain.
“Reform will be grounded in knowledge of past failures while animated by future promise,” the President said.
President Mahama disclosed that technical work has begun on a Sovereign Negotiators Certification Programme to cultivate a generation of dealmakers who can navigate technology agreements, minerals contracts, and complex financing with confidence.
“It is said that sovereignty depends on the people manning the gates,” he noted.
On trade and mobility, the President announced that through the African Continental Free Trade Area Hub and digital platforms, the League of Free Movement is taking on new meaning, with the Global Digital Skills Passport ensuring that qualifications of young Africans are recognized across platforms and countries.
President Mahama revealed that exchanges with South Korea, Singapore, India, and Indonesia are opening pathways for technological learning and digital trade under what he termed the New Bandung Spirit.
“AI is becoming embedded in our industrial planning and governance systems,” he stated.
The President acknowledged the members of the Interim Presidential Council of the Accra Reset, thanking President William Ruto of Kenya, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia, President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Faure Gnassingbé of Togo, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, and Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados.
“Your acceptance to serve on the Council reminds us that leadership is often exercised before certainty arrives,” President Mahama told the leaders.
He defined the Accra Reset as an architecture and framework through which Africa and its partners align finance, health, trade, skills, and technology into a single direction of travel.
“Some have asked what the Accra Reset really means. Some imagine another declaration. Others expect fiery speeches. Accra Reset is an architecture, a framework,” the President clarified.
President Mahama said the initiative represents a shift from frustration to determination, sparking breakthrough thinking that will change the calculus of international relations.
He called for definitive commitments on dealmaking, health as a multiplier of wealth, minerals supply chain intelligence, repatriation of African sovereign forex reserves, and digital skills passports.
“We have reflected enough in all our meetings over the years. It is time to commit. It is time to interlock our Sovereign Prosperity Spheres. It is time to transform,” President Mahama declared.
The President noted that Africa is operating in an era where old assumptions no longer hold, with fractured supply chains, cautious finance, and technology outpacing laws.
“The pious mantra of development cooperation has lost its flavour. There are tectonic shifts in the global rules that shaped our world over the last eight decades,” he observed.
President Mahama stated that the Accra Reset rejects the false choice between ambition and realism, arguing that ambition becomes realistic when institutions align, partners listen, and execution becomes a shared responsibility.
He told the gathering that Saturday’s event is not a conclusion but the beginning of a more disciplined phase in which ideas must prove themselves through delivery.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
