Fading Global Cooperation: Mahama urges African leaders to step up

President John Dramani Mahama has warned that global cooperation is weakening, urging African leaders to take greater responsibility for the continent’s future and development.

Speaking with fellow leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mahama stressed the urgency of Africa charting its own path.

“Multilateralism is going out of date, and so a lot of responsibility rests on the shoulders of Africa itself,” he said.

He cautioned that dependence on outdated international systems was unsustainable.

“We must take responsibility for our own growth and development,” Mahama noted, adding that the time had come for African countries to embrace new models of governance and economic management.

Mahama pointed to Ghana’s ongoing reforms under his “reset agenda” as an example of how leadership choices can make tangible differences.

He cited his administration’s decision to uncap the National Health Insurance Levy, which boosted funding for healthcare.

“When we uncapped the fund, it resulted in additional revenue of about $300 million into the national health insurance scheme. You can imagine what $300 million can do,” he said.

The reform, he explained, allowed Ghana to sustain critical health programs even after donor support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was reduced.

“Immediately, we were able to cover the USAID gap in funding so that the programs they supported could continue,” Mahama said.

Mahama noted that it was evident that Africa’s reset must be driven by innovative thinking and a reprioritization of resources.

“It depends on us as leaders to move resources from areas that are not priorities into areas that have tangible benefits for our people,” he added.

At home, Mahama has framed the reset agenda as a broader push for fiscal discipline, social investment, and institutional reform.

Beyond healthcare, the Mahama administration is promoting policies in education, infrastructure, and economic management that he describes as part of Ghana’s reset journey.

“As leaders, we must look forward into the future and see what models we can adopt going forward,” Mahama urged, calling for a united African voice in shaping a new order amid fading global cooperation.