Deputy Director in charge of operations of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr Kwesi Djokoto, has reiterated that President John Dramani Mahama’s Reset Agenda reflects the need to ensure that Africa’s natural resources benefit its people.

Dr Djokoto argued that true independence requires countries to own their resources, process them and retain the economic benefits.

“True independence means owning, processing, and profiting from our own resources,” he wrote.

“Our wealth must work for our people. This is exactly what the Reset Agenda led by President Mahama is about.”

Dr Djokoto supported his position with a quotation attributed to Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, on Africa’s resource wealth and the persistence of neo-colonialism.

“Africa is a paradox which illustrates and highlights neo-colonialism. Her earth is rich, yet the products that come from above and below the soil continue to enrich, not Africans predominantly, but groups and individuals who operate to Africa’s impoverishment,” the quotation read.

Before winning the 2024 general elections, President Mahama described the Reset Agenda as a programme to rebuild Ghana’s economy, strengthen national institutions and restore public confidence, guided by fairness, inclusion and accountability. Its stated priorities include job creation, improved public services and economic transformation.

Initiatives associated with the agenda include the 24-Hour Economy, the National Apprenticeship Programme, Free Primary Healthcare, digital governance and export-led industrialisation.

These are intended to expand employment opportunities, develop skills and strengthen domestic production.

The government has also linked its industrial transformation plans to local value addition, seeking to generate more economic benefits from domestic production and processing.

This aligns with Dr Djokoto’s call for resource wealth to deliver tangible benefits to citizens.