France’s development agency has met Ghana’s national planning body in Accra to explore cooperation in financial governance and climate planning as the country finalises a new national development framework.
A delegation from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) held an exploratory meeting with the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to identify potential new areas for collaboration, including sustainable development, public financial governance and climate resilience.
AFD currently runs 16 active projects in Ghana totalling more than €202 million, focused primarily on urban and rural development. The agency has operated in the country since 1985, when it opened its first representation in an English-speaking African country. The visit signals a potential expansion into governance and policy planning.
NDPC Director-General Dr Audrey Smock Amoah noted that Ghana has attempted multiple development frameworks over the years, among them Vision 2020, the 40-Year Development Plan, Ghana Beyond Aid, Ghana at 100 and Vision 2057, but that implementation has repeatedly proved difficult. The new consolidated plan, she said, is being built to outlast political cycles, with priorities reviewable every four years while keeping the broader national direction stable. The Commission conducted consultations across all 16 regions before finalising the plan.
The Commission is in the final stages of developing the results framework for Ghana’s current national development policy framework.
“Development indicators are identified and agreed upon before the results framework is finalised,” said Dr Amoah.
NDPC Director of Research Richard Tweneboah Koduah told the delegation that climate concerns are now woven into budget planning through the Ministry of Finance and that recent flooding and shifting rainfall patterns have made climate responsive infrastructure and disaster preparedness more pressing. The Commission is working with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to strengthen climate risk modelling and adaptation planning.
AFD Country Director Clémentine Dardy said the agency’s financing instruments, including technical assistance, feasibility studies, grants and non sovereign financing arrangements, were available to support Ghana’s development agenda, though she acknowledged that global constraints on grant funding would shape the choice of mechanisms going forward.
