DfID-Ghana Partnership

During a Consultative Group meeting of Ghana development stakeholders in 2010, the government, private sector, civil society groups, established donors and newer partner countries seemed to focus on the same goal: aid independence by the year 2020. Despite Ghana’s continued economic growth, political stability and relatively strong government institutions, the next few years will be crucial to the country’s pursuit of more sustainable health, education and wealth creation programs. Ranking among middle-income countries, the future of Ghana’s prosperity now lies in its ability to sustain political and macroeconomic stability. Regional inequalities between the North and South remain as the northern part of the country continues to experience higher levels of poverty, lower educational attainment, small businesses that lack innovation and productivity, and undervaluation of oil production hampering inclusive growth. Roughly 25 percent of Ghanaians live below the poverty line. In an effort to help the North achieve equal footing and Ghana to reach its goal of aid independence this decade, the United Kingdom and its Department for International Development is committing resources to raise the quality of education, encourage enterprise and wealth creation, and reduce maternal mortality and child deaths throughout the country. Funding levels At present, the United Kingdom is the fourth-largest donor to Ghana, just behind the World Bank, European Commission and the United States. U.K. funding levels are set to increase 17.6 percent over the period of 2011-2015 with DfID allocating 367 million pounds ($578.7 million) in funding for fiscal 2011-2012 to 2014-2015, representing an average of 91.75 million pounds per year. Funding priorities DfID will focus on two cross-cutting priorities in Ghana: - Girls and women. - Poverty reduction and growth in the North. The United Kingdom’s support to Ghana is driven by priorities set in the “Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda 2010–2013,” which targets wealth creation and business development; building competent, transparent and accountable governance across all sectors; and contributing to the improvement of human development outcomes in health, education and poverty alleviation. The three largest operational projects funded by DfID in Ghana are the Support to Education Strategic Plan (104.5 million pounds), General Budget Support 2012-2015 (60.5 million pounds) and the Ghana Health Sector Support Program 2008-2013 (42.2 million pounds). Ghana’s northern region will remain a priority for DfID. The agency plans to utilize challenge funds — a strategy which identifies a specific challenge and then mobilizes internal and external resources to meet that challenge — and results-based financing to increase innovation, competitiveness and productivity. According to DfID, the agency plans to partner with government institutions such as the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority. DfID will also look to expand regional economic integration in West Africa through the Economic Community of West African States and other regional programs. Devex analysis Ghana is among the 27 priority countries of the United Kingdom and is likely to receive funding beyond 2015. Ghana has been commended by the international community for its political and economic reforms resulting in increasing domestic revenues and private sector growth, but rising food and oil prices continue to threaten macroeconomic and political stability and could pose challenges to effective aid delivery in the short to midterm. Since 2009, 60 percent of DfID aid to Ghana was delivered as general budget support, allowing the Ghana government to implement its own national strategies in poverty reduction against an agreed set of targets. For example, DfID provides conditional cash transfers through the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty program to support the most vulnerable groups in society. Through 2015, however, DfID will increasingly provide more focused sector support; only a tenth of the DfID budget will go toward general budget support. Over time, as general budget support decreases, analysts expect targeted programs to increase — a move geared toward achieving more measureable results and upholding DfID’s value-for-money initiative. Contacts DfID Ghana British High Commission Osu Link (Off Gamel Abdul Nasser Avenue) P.O. Box GP 296 Accra Tel.: (233-30) 221-1490 Fax: (233-30) 221-1491