The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has constituted a technical team to develop a strategy document to guide Ghana’s response to the economic disruptions arising from the war in Iran and the broader realignment of global trade and geopolitical alliances.
The team was inaugurated on 7th May 2026 by Dr Nii Moi Thompson, Chairman of the NDPC and Presidential Senior Advisor on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It will be led by Prof. William Baah-Boateng, Vice Chancellor of Methodist University and a commissioner on the NDPC’s Economic Policy Sub-Committee.
Thompson, inaugurating the team, said the strategy would help the government navigate the global economy “not only in the short term but also in the medium to long term,” noting that significant shifts in the global economic order had already been underway before the Iran conflict and were expected to persist “over the foreseeable future.”
He pointed to trade realignments between Canada and the European Union away from the United States, the emergence of new Asian economic powers such as Vietnam, and China’s expanding economic engagement with Africa, including enhanced market access for African exports, as among the structural shifts the strategy must address.
The team’s mandate covers several policy-critical areas: China’s new tariff-free access scheme for African countries and how Ghana can maximise its benefits; opportunities within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA); emerging markets in Latin America and Asia; shifts in traditional markets in Europe and North America; global supply chain and logistics dynamics; and the role of industrial, trade, and competition policy in driving Ghana’s industrialisation agenda.
The technical team draws on expertise across government, academia, and international institutions. Members include Dr. William Cantah of the University of Cape Coast’s Department of Economics; Dr. Francis Kumah, a retired IMF economist currently advising the Governor of the Bank of Ghana; Ms. Nelly Mireku, Director of Research at the Ministry of Finance; Mr. Dominic Odoom, Head of Trade Statistics at the Ghana Statistical Service; Dr. Adotey Anum, a retired diplomat-economist and member of the NDPC’s International Relations sub-committee; Dr. Alfred Appiah, a Canada-based economist and data scientist; and a representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Chris P.K. Conduah, an international trade specialist at the Commission, serves as secretary to the team.
The NDPC said the strategy document is intended to position Ghana to respond effectively to both the immediate shocks and the longer-term structural changes reshaping the world economy.
