Ghana took centre stage at a high-level conference organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the future of global development co-operation, as Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, Deputy Chief of Staff (Administration) at the Office of the President, delivered a keynote address on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama.
The conference, held at the OECD Headquarters in Paris and convened by OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, brought together about 250 international development leaders to deliberate on the changing landscape of global aid and development financing.
Representing President Mahama, who was unable to attend due to a prior state engagement, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo used the platform to present Ghana’s vision for a restructured global development framework through the Accra Reset initiative.
Addressing participants, she painted a grim picture of the current state of global aid flows, revealing that Official Development Assistance from Development Assistance Committee member countries declined by 23.1 per cent in real terms in 2025, representing an estimated loss of 50 billion dollars and the sharpest annual drop on record.
She noted that bilateral ODA to sub-Saharan Africa fell by more than 26 per cent, while humanitarian assistance declined by nearly 36 per cent, with further reductions projected in 2026. According to her, African governments now spend over 80 billion dollars annually servicing debt, compared to approximately 95 billion dollars in total external inflows.
Against this backdrop, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo described the Accra Reset as Africa’s sovereign response to the growing imbalance in global development co-operation.
She explained that the initiative is anchored by a Presidential Council of sitting Heads of State from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and supported by a Guardians’ Circle comprising former leaders including Olusegun Obasanjo, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Jakaya Kikwete, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Helen Clark and Gro Harlem Brundtland.
Outlining key implementation areas of the initiative, she highlighted reforms in health financing, economic transformation and institutional capacity building.
On health, she presented the High-Level Panel on Reform of the Global Health Architecture and Governance, co-chaired by Peter Piot, El Hadj As Sy, Nísia Trindade and Budi Gunadi Sadikin. She also introduced HINGE, the Health Investment National Gateways Enabler, an initiative aimed at converting existing commitments into bankable health investments within 24 months.
On economic transformation, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo spoke about the proposed Sovereign Prosperity Spheres, described as geo-economic platforms intended to support cross-border industrial co-ordination and sovereign exchange systems around critical minerals such as gold and cobalt.
She further introduced the Sankoree Institute of Global Negotiators and Masterkey, the Global Skills Digital Passport initiative, which seeks to facilitate 150,000 cross-border employment placements by its fifth year, with 70 per cent of beneficiaries expected to be women.
The Accra Reset delegation also made three major appeals to the OECD. These included ensuring that perspectives from initiatives such as the Accra Reset are treated as co-authored contributions in the OECD’s flagship report, strengthening engagement with sovereign delivery systems during DAC review processes, and ensuring that the principle of mutual benefit in development partnerships does not disproportionately burden weaker economies.
Later in the day, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, together with Ghana’s Ambassador to France, Mavis Ama Frimpong, held bilateral discussions with Pilar Garrido, focusing on strengthening collaboration between the Accra Reset Secretariat and the OECD.
On the second day of her visit, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo visited the Ghana Embassy in Paris, where she met with staff at the Chancery led by Ambassador Mavis Ama Frimpong.
The embassy team briefed her on ongoing diplomatic and economic initiatives, including a business seminar organised last year that connected Ghanaian and French businesses, as well as efforts by Ghana’s Permanent Mission to secure the country’s return to the Board of UNESCO.
During the interaction, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo further briefed embassy officials on the objectives and implementation strategy of the Accra Reset initiative, emphasising Ghana’s role as a co-architect of a new sovereign development co-operation model for the Global South.
She assured staff that the government’s Reset Agenda remained firmly on course under President Mahama’s leadership and encouraged them to continue serving Ghana diligently abroad.
The Accra Reset is a Head-of-State-led initiative co-founded by President John Dramani Mahama to reshape global development co-operation through sovereign capacity building, institutional reform and mutual accountability among countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
