Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has emphasized the urgent need for a reset across Africa, highlighting innovative approaches to governance and resource allocation.
He made the remarks during the launch of the Accra Reset, a landmark initiative held on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Speaking under the theme “Accra Reset: Reimagining Global Governance for Health and Development,” President Mahama, who also serves as the African Union Champion for African Financial Institutions, stressed that Africa must take responsibility for its own development.
“A lot of responsibility rests on the shoulders of Africa itself. We need a reset in our countries. In Ghana, we have started our resets,” he stated.
“The resets focuses on the fact that we can re-channel resources into areas of priority. We have a national health insurance levy. And the levy funds the national health insurance scheme. And more than 18 million Ghanaians have national health insurance cards that allow them access to free healthcare at the point of service. They pay a little annual premium.”
President Mahama explained that previous caps on statutory funds had limited funding for healthcare, with excess revenues redirected to the consolidated fund for general government use.
By uncapping the health insurance fund, the government was able to generate an additional GHS 3.5 billion (around US$300 million), allowing Ghana to cover funding gaps previously supported by USAID.
“This is a kind of innovative thinking that we need to do. And a lot of that depends on us as leaders to be able to look at how we can move resources from other areas that are not priority into areas that are priority and have tangible benefits for our people,” he said.
Addressing global leaders, diplomats, and multilateral organizations, President Mahama positioned the Accra Reset as a necessary response to the limitations of traditional development models and the failure of current systems to protect the world’s most vulnerable populations.
The initiative underscores Ghana’s commitment, and Africa’s broader mandate, to adopt bold, strategic, and sustainable measures that prioritize health, development, and resilience for all citizens.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
