The Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and Guest of Honour at the Development Impact Summit 2025, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, has stressed the urgent need for Ghana’s political leaders and public officeholders to mainstream effective development planning into a holistic national conversation if the nation is to reach its fullest potential.
His call came at the 2025 Development Impact Summit organized by Development Impact West Africa (DIWA), a research think tank affiliated with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). The event, held in Accra from August 26 to 27, 2025, brought together policymakers, academics, development partners, early-career researchers, and professionals to discuss innovative solutions to West Africa’s pressing challenges through evidence-based research.
The summit was themed “Advancing Evidence-Informed Policymaking for Sustainable Development in West Africa.”
Speaking at the event, Dr. Thompson emphasized that development planning plays a pivotal role in national transformation by providing structured systems to drive effective implementation of government policies. He lamented Ghana’s missed opportunities, comparing the country’s stagnation to nations like South Korea and China, which were at similar development levels at independence but have since become global economic powers through strong political leadership and holistic national planning.
“In any serious-minded society committed to maximizing its development potential, a strong and well-thought-out national development plan is a sine qua non for economic and societal transformation,” he said. “We must shift from allowing political parties to dictate development priorities to adopting well-defined structures, policies, and programmes anchored in a national plan.”
Dr. Thompson further underscored the need for a robust Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework to ensure efficient use of resources and to measure the impact of policies and programmes. He argued that challenges such as unemployment, low productivity, and inadequate infrastructure can only be addressed through innovative, evidence-based solutions rather than partisan rhetoric.
On his part, DIWA Executive Director, Professor Charles Amoatey, reaffirmed the think tank’s commitment to partnering with stakeholders to strengthen impact evaluation of state policies. He noted that DIWA aims to complement government efforts by providing independent, high-quality research to improve policy outcomes.
“At DIWA, we are committed to delivering excellent research in partnership with both local and international stakeholders to ensure that taxpayer-funded programmes achieve their intended outcomes,” Prof. Amoatey said. “Our role is to provide impartial, evidence-based assessments that help streamline the effectiveness of state policies for the benefit of all citizens.”
The summit ended with a call for stronger collaboration between policymakers, researchers, evaluators, and practitioners to embed evidence in policy design and implementation for sustainable development across West Africa.
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Story by Sika Togoh|univers.ug.edu.gh