Eminent economists to prioritise best policies for Ghana’s future

The Ghana Priorities Eminent Panel Conference was opened in Accra on Thursday, 6th August, 2020. It will set out a data-driven approach to prioritisation of the best policies for the country’s future.

Over the next four days, 28 teams of Ghanaian, regional and international economists will present their research on costs and benefits of the most promising policy pursuits to an eminent panel including Nobel Prize recipient Finn Kydland and six distinguished national economists. The panel will rank all the interventions and establish what will do the most good for every cedi spent.

Ghana Priorities is a cooperation between the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and the award-winning think tank Copenhagen Consensus.

Referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghana’s Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia pointed out in an address given on his behalf that “the Ghana Priorities Project couldn’t have come at a better time. Especially in times like this, we need to avoid arbitrary allocation of resources. Evidence-based choice-making is what is needed for sound sustainable resource allocation decisions.”

He concluded that the project’s data-driven approach to policy prioritisation will provide “a valuable platform for strengthening good governance and making informed public policy choices. We eagerly await the outcomes that emerge from this forum.”

Dr. Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, Director General of the NDPC, said: “Because resources are limited, we need to make choices. Economic data is the basis for objectively and reliably analysing our projects and policies. Ghana Priorities is a contribution to the national development process which will help us prioritise and make choices.”

Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, Government Statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service similarly pointed out the value of good data to inform the policy-making process.

The conference will resume at 9:00am on Friday, 7th August at the Kempinski Hotel, Accra with research presentations on a wide range of topics, including health, gender and sanitation.