From R-L; Dr. Adu Owusu Sarkodie with officials of Centre for Policy Scrutiny (CPS)
The Centre for Policy Scrutiny (CPS), has urged the government to integrate the 24-Hour Economy programme into the country’s medium term development framework of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).
Executive Director at the Centre, Dr. Adu-Owusu Sarkodie, made the call during a review by the Policy Think Tank on the government’s 24 Hour –Economy flagship programme in Accra yesterday.
He pointed out that integrating 24-Hour Economy programmes into the National Development Planning Commission’s long term programme will not only ensure alignment with national priorities but also help eliminate duplication.
According to him, the 24-Hour policy reflects the government needs to fill the pressing need for a stronger, more diversified economy, aligning with the country’s pursuit for long term transformation.
Dr. Sarkodie, however, stated that the success of the programme will not only depend on its vision but also on coherence and efficiency to reduce implementation and fiscal risk.
He also called on the government to establish transparent costing and phased fiscal planning to enhance the credibility for effective implementation of the progamme providing cost estimates based on impact and feasibility.
According to the think tank, such transparency will support budget discipline, improve stakeholder confidence, reduce the risk of overextension in a constrained fiscal environment.
He mentioned that the Centre observed that the 24 Hour programme correctly diagnosed Ghana’s development challenges and prescribes solutions similar to previous development ambitions and strategies contrary to earlier interpretations centred on adopting a three-shift employment system across the public and private sectors.
“None of the programmes suggested outcome indicators relates to shift work, whether projected rate of adoption or its projected prevalence in the economy by some future date,” he noted
“While the term 24-Hour economy may suggest round the clock –operations, the programme represents a broader national transformation agenda. The shift system may be one of the strategies employed but it is neither a perquisite nor a defining feature of economic transformation” the Centre observed.
The event which brought together some executives of the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat, members of the academia, members of the diplomatic corps, students as well as several other dignitaries assessed the strategic coherence, fiscal credibility and feasibility of the 24 Hour Economy programme.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah