Vice President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, has called for a decisive shift from foreign aid dependency to sustainable domestic funding, urging civil society to play a more pivotal role in shaping national development.
Speaking at the opening of the 2025 Ghana Civil Society Forum in Accra, the Vice President underscored the need for resource mobilisation and homegrown reforms in financial governance.
“Ghana and many other African countries are re-evaluating aid-dependent models. We are committed to deepening resource mobilisation, expanding the tax base, and reforming public financial management.”
Among the key priorities she outlined was the government’s plan to overhaul tax administration.
Accoridng to her, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has been given a mandate to raise domestic revenues significantly above the current 0.6% of GDP, which includes scrapping certain withholding taxes and stepping up enforcement against gold smuggling, a major drain on public revenue.
“Gold smuggling not only robs the state of critical funds, it undermines accountability and the rule of law.We will not allow these leakages to persist.”
To reinforce transparency and accountability, the government is also considering the establishment of a National Governance Council, aimed at institutionalising dialogue between state institutions and civil society organisations (CSOs).
“We are creating formal platforms for government-CSO dialogue. This administration remains committed to building consensus around critical reforms.”
She highlighted recent successes, including the National Economic Dialogue and the National Education Dialogue, as evidence of the government’s openness to inclusive policymaking.
The event, themed “Reimagining Development Financing and Civic Action,” brought together over 500 stakeholders from across the country. CSO leaders welcomed the Vice President’s call for sustainable funding and pledged to support efforts at reforming public finance.
The Vice President closed her speech by urging civil society to tap into youth innovation and digital tools to drive citizen engagement.
“We must empower our youth not just to participate in democracy, but to help redefine it,” she said.
