ISSER researchers present at Ghana Priorities Eminent Panel Conference

On 8 August, Prof Peter Quartey (Director, ISSER) and Prof Robert Darko Osei (Associate Professor, ISSER) gave presentations at the Ghana Priorities Eminent Panel Conference in Accra. The conference is part of the "Ghana Priorities" project, an initiative being spearheaded by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), in collaboration with the Copenhagen Consensus Centre, an award-winning international think tank.

Profs Quartey and Darko Osei were part of selected regional and international economists who contributed their expertise and work to an important national project (the Ghana Priorities Project), presenting their research on costs and benefits of the most promising policy pursuits to an Eminent Panel comprising Nobel Prize recipient Finn Kydland and six distinguished national economists. As the Copenhagen Consensus states: “With limited resources and time, it is crucial that focus is informed by what will do the most good for each cedi spent. The Ghana Priorities project will work with stakeholders across the country to find, analyze, rank and disseminate the best solutions for the country.”

Prof Quartey’s presentation was focused on industrial transformation measures, explaining that government support for management consulting services can significantly improve factory operations and processes in areas such as quality control, human resources, inventory, and sales. The study concludes that every cedi spent on improving management practices would bring a return 6 times higher than the original investment for large enterprises, and almost 10 times higher for medium-sized companies. He discussed other success factors for private businesses and economies, including access to credit and capital grants.

Prof Darko Osei in turn presented on agriculture, highlighting that the sector is a significant contributor to the Ghanaian economy and an important source of employment, with over 40% of all workers engaged in farming. With growth and development, the country is gradually shifting away from this sector towards industry and services, but agriculture is still key for the economy, and a necessary vehicle for reducing poverty and food insecurity. Increasing agricultural output can be achieved through three main mechanisms: increasing area under cultivation, improving the yield, and reducing post-harvest losses, he said.

Also presenting from ISSER was Dr. Charles Godfred Ackah (Senior Research Fellow), who was part of a two-member team that examined vocational education and apprenticeship.

After hearing presentations from 28 teams of economists from Ghana and abroad over the course of three days, the Eminent Panel will rank all interventions and establish priorities for a prosperous future.

For more news on the event, see below: