President John Dramani Mahama has announced the appointment of several world leaders to the Presidential Council of the Accra Reset Initiative, reinforcing Ghana’s push to reshape global cooperation in health and development.
The announcement was made on the sidelines of the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where President Mahama outlined the growing international backing for the initiative.
The newly named members of the Presidential Council include President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, President William Ruto of Kenya, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.
Other appointees are President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados, and President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia.
Circle of Guardians Announced
President Mahama also unveiled a high-level Circle of Guardians, composed of respected former heads of state and government who will provide strategic guidance and moral leadership for the initiative.
The Guardian Circle is led by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and includes former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Malawian President Joyce Banda, former Ghanaian President John Agyekum Kufuor, former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, and former Mauritian President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim.
Also named were former Prime Ministers Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway, Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe of Ethiopia, Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom, Helen Clark of New Zealand, P.J. Patterson of Jamaica, and Romano Prodi of Italy, as well as former African Union Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Reimagining Global Cooperation
Launched in late 2025, the Accra Reset Initiative is a flagship international agenda spearheaded by President Mahama. It seeks to transform global governance in health and development by shifting countries in the Global Majority away from aid dependency toward health sovereignty and economic self-reliance.
The initiative proposes new approaches to financing, business models, and partnerships, emphasising shared value, national ownership, and workable frameworks, beginning with health as a proof of concept and expanding across broader development sectors.
Addressing participants at the Davos Commitment, President Mahama stressed that the Accra Reset was not a plea for assistance but a call for a new form of partnership.
“Friends, we didn’t come here to ask for charity. We came to propose a global partnership of the willing, based on a shared vision and mutual respect,” he said.
He added that the initiative was laying the foundation for a new architecture of cooperation—one in which Global South countries co-design programmes, shape investment around national priorities, and coordinate growth across regions.
“We want to create Prosperity Spheres across regional platforms where countries coordinate investment, infrastructure, and jobs,” President Mahama noted.
Obasanjo: Future Must Be Negotiated
Speaking on behalf of the Circle of Guardians, former President Olusegun Obasanjo said the group would work to embed the Accra Reset within the North–South Dialogue, engaging development partners on concrete reforms and projects to expand access to health facilities and technology.
“The future will not be given to the unprepared. It will be negotiated. It will be built. And it will belong to those who prepare, unite, and organise for it,” Obasanjo said.
The Accra Reset Initiative is expected to play a central role in shaping new models of global development cooperation in the years ahead.-
