By Iddi Yire
Accra, Oct 24, GNA – President John Dramani Mahama has delivered a stirring address at the 12th High-Level Tana Forum on Security in Africa in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, urging his fellow African leaders to embrace what he termed “The Accra Reset”.
The Accra Reset is a Head-of-State-anchored initiative to rebuild global development cooperation around practical sovereignty, execution capacity, and shared prosperity – in the Global South and beyond.
The Initiative is a fundamental restructuring of the continent’s economies away from raw material dependency toward domestic industrialization and shared prosperity.
Addressing heads of state, policymakers and development partners gathered at the continental forum, the President outlined a four-pillar vision: processing Africa’s raw materials at home, building domestic industrial capacity, securing food and energy sovereignty, and transforming the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) “from a legal blueprint into an operational engine of shared prosperity.”
“The Accra Reset demands that we fundamentally restructure our economies,” President Mahama declared.
He added: “We must process our raw materials at home, build domestic industrial capacity, secure food and energy sovereignty, and transform the AfCFTA from a legal blueprint into an operational engine of shared prosperity.”
President Mahama, who has been the Chairman of Tana Forum over the past nine years, said for over a decade, the Tana Forum had offered a unique platform to debate issue of peace, governance and security imperatives, away from rigid diplomatic formalities.
“As we sit once again in the shade of our metaphorical baobab tree, we reaffirm an immutable truth: Sustainable peace in Africa can be built only on the bedrock of African ownership, lived realities, and continental agency,” he said.
President Mahama said this year’s theme for the Tana Forum: “Pathways to Peace in Africa: Economic Sovereignty and Geopolitical Transformation,” speaks directly to the defining challenges of their era.
He said the global architecture was undergoing seismic shifts, declaring that heightened geopolitical rivalries, competition for strategic critical minerals, volatile global supply chains, and unprecedented technological disruption were redefining the international order.
He intimidated that in this fragmented landscape, Africa could not remain a passive bystander, nor could they allow their continent to become an arena for external contestation.
The President drew a direct link between economic exclusion and continental instability, warning that the marginalization of Africa’s youth poses a direct threat to peace.
“When our youth are economically disenfranchised, peace remains fragile,” he said. “Economic sovereignty is therefore the first and most critical security buffer we have.”
Turning to the shifting global order, President Mahama called on African nations to align with the wider Global South, arguing that collective action is Africa’s greatest asset in an increasingly multipolar world.
“Navigating today’s geopolitical transformation requires Africa to mobilise and align with the wider Global South. In an increasingly multipolar world, our strength lies in collective solidarity,” he stated.
The President reiterated the imperative of partnership, noting that Africa’s transformation agenda would be pursued “together with our partners” — a call for mutually beneficial cooperation grounded in African ownership.
He said together with their partners across Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean, they must demand an equitable reform of the multilateral system and global governance institutions; adding that however, as they engage outward, their primary strategic focus must be internal: Africa must help itself.
The Tana Summit, which brings together African leaders and global stakeholders to advance continental integration and development, provided a platform for President Mahama to position Ghana as a leading voice in the push for economic self-determination.
The President said the time had passed for external actors to underwrite our peace, security, and development agendas.
President Mahama noted that from financing their own peace operations through the AU Peace Fund to curbing illicit financial flows and building homegrown technological resilience, they must author and fund their destiny themselves.
President Mahama said: “Over the next two days, the Tana Forum offers us an open marketplace of ideas.
“Let us approach our deliberations with the intellectual courage, honesty, and humility that this moment demands.
“Let us bridge the gap between policy formulation and transformative implementation. Let us sit together, reflect together, and resolve together to secure an Africa that is prosperous, self-reliant, peaceful, and sovereign.”
The Tana Forum brings together African leaders, policymakers, security experts and other stakeholders to deliberate on the continent’s peace and security challenges.
The Forum provides a platform for African leaders and institutions to reflect on emerging threats, assess ongoing conflicts and explore African-led solutions to instability across the continent.
GNA
Edited by Benjamin Mensah