Defining the Sovereign Future
22 January 2026
The Accra Reset is a Head-of-State sponsored strategic initiative conceived to address persistent structural conditions confronting many countries of the Global Majority: the erosion of practical sovereignty despite formal political independence.
It responds to a convergence of pressures that have intensified in recent years taking the form, at different times and places, of geopolitical contestation, fragmented multilateralism, constrained fiscal space, disrupted aid and financing flows, and the limited effectiveness of externally designed development interventions.
At the centre of the Accra Reset is a clear diagnostic framework spearheaded by HE John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana to tackle the Triple Dependency Burden, comprising:
_geopolitical vulnerability
_donor dependence
_geostrategic marginalization
President John Dramani Mahama will participate in the first Davos convening of the Accra Reset on 22nd January 2026, on the margins of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. The President leads the Presidential Council of the Accra Reset, a Global South initiative working to strengthen sovereign capacity and reimagine international cooperation in an era of unprecedented global challenges.
Other Presidential Council members attending the side event include President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt, President William Samoei Ruto of Kenya, and President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Vice President Kashim Shettima will represent Nigeria, and Prime Minister James Marape will represent Papua New Guinea. Former Heads of State participating include President Olusegun Obasanjo, Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who make up the Guardians Circle of the Accra Reset.
The meeting will launch priority programmes following the initiative’s introduction at the 2025 UN General Assembly and endorsement at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg. Accra Reset is timely amid intensifying great-power rivalries, the collapse of the global aid narrative, unprecedented trade tensions, and the crises of climate shocks, cost of living, pandemics, and conflicts.
President Mahama considers the Accra Reset as complementary to his domestic reform, the Resetting Ghana Agenda. As a founding member, Ghana recognises that effective national governance requires both internal reforms and a more equitable international system. President Mahama has consistently emphasised that sovereignty means the capacity to execute national visions while building strategic partnerships, particularly within Africa and across the Global South, that advance mutual interests.
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