Experts from key ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) in Ghana concluded a three-day training focused on using ECA’s Integrated Planning and Reporting Toolkit (IPRT) to digitalize their sectoral plans and align them with regional and global development agendas.
The follow-up training, organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) of Ghana and supported by Interconnections for Making Africa Great, Empowered and Sustainable (IMAGES) Initiatives, was held from October 24-26, 2023 in Accra, was designed to build the capacity of experts from key MDAs to align their medium-term sectoral plans to Agendas 2030 and 2063, as well as to use the IPRT in planning, monitoring, evaluating and reporting on their plans, in addition to linking them to financing frameworks. A key result of the training was a report on the alignment of Ghana’s agricultural sector plan with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Ghana is a trailblazer in using IPRT to assess their sectoral plans, paving the way for further improvements in the IPRT to assist African Member States in identifying the gaps between actual performance and targets and facilitating automated reporting.
Bartholomew Armah, Chief of the Development Planning Section of the Macroeconomics and Governance Division at ECA, reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to consolidating its partnership with the NDPC, noting that ECA aims to provide continued support in the design of future NDPs and sectoral plans. This will include support for alignment, performance tracking, and linking the objectives of the plans to the national budget.
Opare-Djan Nana, Acting Director General of NDPC, noted the importance of the IPRT in engendering a more systematic approach to the MDAs’ work. He also challenged ECA to incorporate sub-regional frameworks such as the ECOWAS Vision 2050 in the IPRT.
The IPRT has been deployed in 30 Member States and one Regional Economic Community (SADC) with ongoing efforts to ensure its use by the remaining countries on the continent. The IPRT continues to undergo a series of modifications and enhancements, including an update that facilitates alignment of national plans of least developed countries with the Doha Programme of Action.