President John Dramani Mahama has unveiled a new vision for Ghana's relationship with global philanthropy, emphasizing the need for partnerships that strengthen national institutions, build local capacity, and deliver development outcomes aligned with Ghana's priorities. He made this call at a high-level presidential funders' roundtable in New York, bringing together about 20 major philanthropic organizations and foundations based in the United States. The engagement, organized by the Open Society Foundations, aimed to explore a new approach to international development cooperation.
The roundtable, held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, brought together senior leaders and representatives of major global foundations. President Mahama argued that the changing global development landscape presents an opportunity for Ghana and other countries in the Global South to rethink their relationship with international development partners. He emphasized that the objective should not simply be to find new sources of funding but to build institutional capabilities that enable countries to take greater control of their own development.
President Mahama noted that Africa has a clear development vision through Agenda 2063, but the more difficult task is translating that ambition into delivery. He stressed that this requires institutions that can execute, the ability to mobilise and manage resources well, stronger negotiating capability, programmes that can attract the right forms of finance, and systems that allow for proper accountability for results and learning from them.
The President's new proposition to global philanthropy, dubbed Ghana's Accra Reset, is rooted in the principle that sovereignty must be matched by the capacity to exercise it. He emphasized that greater country leadership requires governments to have clearer priorities, stronger coordination, better financial management, and institutions capable of delivering measurable results. President Mahama also challenged international partners to examine whether their approaches are sufficiently designed to strengthen national institutions and give them greater space to lead.
President Mahama highlighted the distinctive role philanthropy can play in supporting areas that conventional development finance and commercial capital might not readily fund. He pointed to institutional capacity, early-stage programme development, public goods, social priorities, and evidence generation as areas where philanthropic support can have a catalytic effect. The President also called for greater coherence among philanthropic organizations, warning that fragmented funding arrangements can place a significant burden on national institutions.
A key element of President Mahama's proposition is the role of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) as Ghana's institutional gateway to global philanthropy. He designated MiDA as the Government's focal institution for international philanthropic partnerships and grant coordination, providing a clear and credible route for foundations to engage with the Government of Ghana. MiDA's role will be to connect philanthropic partners to the appropriate parts of Government while ensuring that relevant Ministries, the Accra Reset team, civil society, and other delivery partners remain part of the process.
President Mahama invited the foundations represented at the roundtable to move beyond traditional funding relationships and explore areas where their expertise, networks, evidence, and institutional capabilities can complement Ghana's development priorities. He expressed hope that Ghana can demonstrate that greater country leadership can coexist with strong accountability, while ensuring that philanthropic partnerships build institutions and capabilities that endure beyond any single grant.
Key points
- President Mahama calls for a shift from fragmented, short-term interventions to partnerships that strengthen national institutions and deliver development outcomes aligned with Ghana's priorities.
- The President designates the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) as Ghana's institutional gateway to global philanthropy.
- President Mahama seeks greater coherence among philanthropic organizations to avoid burdening national institutions with multiple funding cycles and reporting requirements.
