Devex ranks President Mahama among world’s top five most powerful voices in Global Development

President John Dramani Mahama has been ranked the 5th Most Powerful person globally in development and changemaking by respected international development publication Devex, in recognition of his leadership in advancing the Accra Reset agenda.

The ranking places President Mahama among a select group of global figures shaping the future of development at a time of major shifts in international aid, financing, and global cooperation.

According to Devex, Mahama has emerged as a leading voice advocating a new deal for African developmentone that moves beyond traditional aid-dependent models and pushes for reforms in debt relief, trade, and climate finance. The publication noted that his central argument is that Africa must renegotiate its place in the global economic order rather than simply adapt to shrinking foreign aid.

Devex described the Accra Reset as a defining pillar of President Mahama’s growing influence on the global development stage. The initiative was launched in August last year in Accra, where Mahama convened African leaders, policymakers, and global health experts to outline a new vision for health sovereignty grounded in national ownership and fairer global cooperation.

That vision was later expanded beyond health to development more broadly during the United Nations General Assembly in September, positioning the Accra Reset as a global agenda rather than an exclusively African one.

The publication characterised the Accra Reset as a bold effort to declare an end to “development-as-usual,” particularly in response to cuts in U.S. foreign aid, while advocating new governance, business, and financing models. It noted that President Mahama has been a hands-on champion of the initiative, with former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo serving as a key adviser.

President Mahama, who assumed office in January 2025 for a second, non-consecutive term, previously served as President from 2012 to January 7, 2017, as Vice President, a Member of Parliament, and as a Minister. He was also the first co-chair of the United Nations Advocacy Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The top four figures on the Devex Power 50 list are Benjamin Black, Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation; Sidi Ould Tah, President of the African Development Bank; Anna Makanju, Vice President for Global Impact at OpenAI; and Alexander Berger, Co-founder and CEO of Coefficient Giving.

Introducing the Power 50 list, Devex said the global development sector has undergone “tectonic shifts” over the past year, as major donors retrench and new actors emerge. The publication explained that the list highlights individuals transforming development in a post-aid era, spanning government, philanthropy, multilateral finance, artificial intelligence, and global health.

While acknowledging that measuring influence is not an exact science, Devex said its newsroom’s deep engagement with the sector informed the rankings, which it describes as a guide to the individuals shaping global development in 2026. President Mahama’s inclusion in the top five underscores Ghana’s rising profile in global development debates and positions the Accra Reset as one of the most influential ideas redefining international cooperation in the years ahead.

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