Development Economist at the University of Ghana, Dr. George Domfeh, says Ghana and many African countries will continue to waste scarce public resources when governments continue to formulate policies without relying on research, data, and expert evidence.
The development economist made this case when he was speaking ahead of the 2026 Evidence to Action and Exhibition (E2A) Conference.
Dr. Domfeh stressed the urgent need to bridge what he described as the “yawning gap” between academia and policymakers to improve governance and national development outcomes.
According to him, researchers and academics are constantly generating practical solutions to national problems through studies, data analysis, and evidence-based research. However, many policymakers and politicians often ignore these findings when designing and implementing policies.
He warned that this disconnect between academia and government decision-making has contributed to ineffective interventions and poor use of public funds.
“Most of the things they call policies are not by themselves policies,” he noted, arguing that genuine policies should emerge from research-backed solutions rather than assumptions or political instincts.
Dr. Domfeh explained that universities and research institutions exist not only to produce academic knowledge but also to generate practical solutions to societal problems.
He believes stronger collaboration between researchers and policymakers would help governments better understand national challenges and implement solutions that are practical, measurable, and sustainable.
“Those of us in academia, the work that we do here, the research that we do here, we are supposed to get evidence-based policies. You know, we are supposed to put together evidence-based policies. And unfortunately, when we do research here, that is evidence. They don’t see any need to use it. So there’s that gap between academia and the policymakers,” he decried.
According to him, conferences such as E2A 2026 create an important platform to bring politicians, policymakers, academics, and researchers together to exchange ideas and strengthen the role of evidence in governance.
He noted that such engagements could help policymakers appreciate the value of research and encourage them to integrate evidence into decision-making processes.
Dr. Domfeh further argued that evidence-based policymaking is critical if Ghana wants to make prudent use of limited national resources and avoid implementing costly policies that fail to solve real problems.
“Unfortunately, the policymakers don’t believe so much in what we do. They believe in creating solutions for the problems. And they end up wasting public resources to address problems in a way that should not have been, you know, the ideal, you know, approach or way to solve that problem,” he further stated.
The 2026 Evidence to Action and Exhibition Conference is an annual event organized by the International Centre for Evaluation and Development (ICED) at the University of Ghana.
This year’s edition is themed “Reimagining the Evidence-Informed Policy and Decision-Making Ecosystem in Africa, and is scheduled for June 22–26, 2026.
The conference is expected to convene academics, policymakers, development practitioners, and civil society actors to discuss how Africa can strengthen evidence-informed governance and bridge the gap between research and public policy implementation.
