Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo delivered a landmark address at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, formally announcing the launch of the Accra Reset’s interim Secretariat in Ghana and highlighting President John Dramani Mahama’s transformative leadership in reshaping global development cooperation.
Speaking on behalf of President Mahama, who leads the Accra Reset initiative, Obasanjo informed world leaders that the platform, anchored in the Global South, has expanded its Circle of Leaders to include over two dozen former Heads of State and international organization leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Caribbean.
“President Mahama extends his deep appreciation to H.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose leadership has guided this G20 cycle with clarity, courage, and profound commitment to justice,” Obasanjo stated, conveying special greetings from the Ghanaian leader, who also serves as the African Union Champion for Reparations.
The Accra Reset represents a paradigm shift in development philosophy, moving away from what Obasanjo described as “an economy of dependency” created by traditional aid and loans.
“To move forward, we must re-architect our economies based on trade and investment,” the former Nigerian president declared.
Obasanjo emphasized that the initiative seeks to transform development cooperation into a system that is “country-led, regionally empowered, and globally coherent,” marking a break from decades of top-down North-South approaches.
The launch of the Secretariat in Accra marks a new phase for the initiative, which President Mahama champions as a platform for ensuring global governance reforms are “co-created, not imposed; negotiated with fairness, not inherited from history.”
A High-Level Panel is being convened to prepare a landmark report on restructuring global governance, to be submitted to a commissioning authority composed of Heads of State from both the Global North and Global South.
Obasanjo also praised South Africa’s G20 Presidency under President Ramaphosa for advancing priorities that align with the Accra Reset’s mission, including equitable global financial architecture, global health resilience, fair technology partnerships, and enhanced Global South participation in multilateral decision-making.
“The Accra Reset stands ready to work closely with the G20,” Obasanjo said, positioning the platform as “connective tissue interlinking the public, private, and civil sectors of Global South societies.”
The initiative aims to shift international development “from endless aspirational targets to workable business models that drive real and durable change,” reflecting President Mahama’s pragmatic vision for economic transformation across the Global South.
