President John Dramani Mahama has urged African leaders to move beyond declarations and commit to tangible investments that will strengthen the continent’s healthcare systems.

Speaking at the African Union’s first Extraordinary Summit dedicated to health in Accra, President Mahama argued that achieving health sovereignty requires more than political commitments, but deliberate investments in infrastructure, local manufacturing and sustainable financing.

He said a stronger health value chain would create factories, laboratories and decent jobs for Africa’s growing youth population, especially when supported by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“Health sovereignty, it turns out, is also an industrial policy, a structural transformation agenda, and a liberation strategy.

“25 years ago in Abuja, we promised to devote 15% of our national budgets to health. That promise is now old enough to have children of its own. So the pledges we make this afternoon must be physical, not lyrical,” he stated.

President Mahama called for stronger collaboration between health and finance authorities, urging governments to ensure that health priorities receive sustained budgetary support beyond electoral cycles.

He highlighted mechanisms such as debt-for-health arrangements, solidarity financing instruments and protected budget lines as possible ways to secure long-term investments in healthcare.

According to him, investing in prevention offers significant economic returns.

“Prevention repays us ninefold. Show me a better bond in the economic markets than prevention,” he said.

The summit, he noted, would focus on key areas including local pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing, health financing, governance and leadership.

President Mahama also announced that member states would adopt a continental declaration, supported by a monitoring, reporting and accountability framework to track progress.

He called for the introduction of an annual health scorecard to allow African countries to review each other’s performance and measure commitments.

“Let us embrace that scorecard as the mark of a union that has grown confident enough to grade itself,” he said.

Using a Ghanaian proverb, "one head does not hold counsel with itself" — President Mahama emphasised the importance of collective action among African nations in addressing shared health challenges.

He expressed appreciation to African leaders for choosing Ghana as the host of the landmark health summit, describing it as an opportunity for the continent to redefine its approach to healthcare financing and sovereignty.