The World Bank Country Director for Ghana Pierre Laporte says one of the most important things the government needs to achieve its Ghana Beyond Aid target is to improve upon its struggling domestic resource mobilization.
“I think for us, we should accompany the country forward to become less dependent on aid which I think is the right thing to do; get the private sector to do more, get development partners to put the money in areas where it makes more sense.
But the government itself has to do more on domestic resource mobilization to really bring more revenue to do more for itself,” Mr. Laporte said.
The World Country Director’s comment comes in the wake of the government’s failure to meet its domestic revenue targets in the past four years. The revenue performance for 2019 as of September shows a shortfall of about GH¢5 billion.
While several initiatives and reforms have been introduced during that time, the targets remained elusive and the World Bank believes that the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda needs an improved domestic revenue mobilisation, among others, to take off.
“From where I sit, I see this as a vision of where the country wants to be. A country that wants to stand on its feet. My interpretation is that I don’t think the government is telling us to go away because they don’t need our aid anymore,” he stated.
Mr. Laporte who was speaking at the commencement of a series of meetings that will culminate in a new World Bank strategy for the country said the Bretton Woods institution has bought into the country’s objective to seek self-sufficiency.
He stated that the bank’s own response is to reassess its projects and commit funds to areas where a greater impact will be achieved.
According to him, the new strategy which should come to effect in July 2020, is expected to among others see a reduction in the sheer number of development projects the bank executes or supports in favour of projects that are billed to have wider impacts.
“Based on the consultations we are going to have, we will now develop our areas of focus. Based on this, we will develop a set of projects and analytical work for our interventions over the next six years. This is a critical exercise for the World Bank and the country. It is a strategic exercise because we want to make sure we hit the right places in our interventions.
One of the things that the bank is doing is to be selective. Gone are the days when we do 30 to 40 projects in our strategy for 4 years. We are now going to do fewer projects, bigger projects, and more impactful projects,” he stated.
Mr. Laporte stated that the Bank’s new strategy will be aligned with the government’s Ghana Beyond Aid agenda which seeks to build the capacity of the private to enhance their role in economic growth.
Country Partnership Framework
The meeting held on Thursday, December 12, 2019, is first among several discussions that Bank will have with development partners and civil society organizations.
According to Mr. Laporte, the CPF is important both for the government and WBG teams so that we collectively agree upon the focus of our engagement going forward, even though there may be a need for adjustments along the way. Collaboration and coordination with DPs and CSOs essential to the WBG having an impact.