President John Dramani Mahama has challenged developing nations to reject the oppressive global economic model that treats the Global South as a raw-material storehouse for wealthy countries, and called for radical economic self-reliance through resource sovereignty.
Addressing heads of state and government at the 65th Anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Belgrade, President Mahama said true political independence is meaningless without economic transformation, affordable development finance, and local value creation.
Outlining his expectations for a new global economic order, Mahama introduced the ‘Accra Reset’, a strategic blueprint to reshape international development cooperation. The policy focuses on adding value to domestic mineral and agricultural resources, building local industrial capacity, and securing fair trade terms instead of accepting raw commodity exploitation.
“Resource sovereignty must be at the heart of our development agenda,” President Mahama stated. “We cannot accept a global economic order in which countries of the Global South remain exporters of raw materials and importers of finished products, while our people bear the environmental and social costs of extraction.”
Mahama criticised the current global financial architecture, noting that high borrowing costs, unsustainable debt burdens, and limited access to predictable development capital continue to paralyse fiscal planning in developing nations.
He called on NAM to use South-South cooperation to build alternative financial and technological networks, ensuring member states enter global supply chains as industrial equals rather than vulnerable suppliers.
“This is not a call for isolation, but for stronger, more equitable, and mutually beneficial partnerships with the international community,” the President stressed. “Our resources must finance our transformation, our industries must create dignified jobs, and our nations must participate in global value chains as equal partners.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency, Republic of Ghana.
