Economist at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr John Kwakye, is calling for a radical rethink of Ghana’s long-term development planning, which has proven unsuccessful after several attempts.
The Director of Research at the IEA says it’s about time the country ditches the long-term development dreams and embraces 5-year revolving National Development Plans.
His justification is that more often, Ghana’s long-term development blueprints gather dust on government shelves without achieving any significant impact.
In his views, the long-term development master plans appear visionary, but in reality, they’ve proven to be too difficult to implement effectively.
The Problem with Long-Term Plans
Ghana has a history of long-term development planning since its independence. From the Vision 2020 initiative of the 1990s to the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies (CPESDP), the story has been largely the same.
These development plans are said to be good on paper, but poor in execution. Each new government tends to start afresh, shelving the previous administration’s plans, leaving long-term blueprints half-baked or forgotten.
Analysts say some factors that militate against the effective implementation of the long-term plans include the lack of political will, lack of funding, overreliance on party manifestoes, weak institutional coordination, and changing realities, among other factors.
These factors prove Dr. Kwakye’s claim that Ghana’s long-term development plans are “unwieldy and difficult to manage.” Long-term plans, he suggests, often outlive political administrations and lose relevance in the face of changing realities.
The Case for 5-Year Revolving Plans
By contrast, the economist argues that a 5-year revolving plan, updated and rolled forward periodically, would allow governments to focus on a few high-impact sectors, such as infrastructure, education, or agriculture, while adjusting to economic shocks or new opportunities along the way.
To him, Ghana should rather focus its economic planning on 5-year revolving National Development Plans targeting a few strategic areas at a time.
He insists that such shorter cycles would make planning more practical and results-driven.
“We should refocus our economic planning on 5-year revolving National Development Plans (NDPs) targeting a few strategic areas at a time, as the longer-term NDPs tend to be too unwieldy and unmanageable,” Dr. John Kwakye suggested.
Why It Makes Sense Now
Dr. Kwakye suggests that at a time when Ghana is recovering from economic turbulence, short-term strategic planning could inject a sense of urgency and measurable progress into the national agenda.
He insists that the country cannot continue writing 40-year plans that sound good at launch but are forgotten by the next election cycle. This speaks to the heart of Ghana’s economic woes, where roads remain uncompleted, industrial zones stall, and job creation targets drift far off-course.
Dr. Kwakye’s suggestion offers a way out by making development plans measurable and continuous, not trapped in the cycle of overpromising and underdelivering.
