World Bank CPIA Report: Ghana Scores 3.4 for Second Consecutive Year
Ghana’s score in the 2024 World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) for Africa held steady at 3.4, unchanged from the previous year, according to the latest report.
This performance mirrors the broader stability seen across Sub-Saharan Africa, where the average score also remained consistent.
Economic Management a Key Concern
The report highlighted that Ghana’s lowest-performing cluster was economic management, scoring 2.8.
Despite this being a 0.2-point improvement from 2022, it still indicates significant challenges in this area.
Public Sector and Structural Reforms
On a more positive note, Ghana recorded a score of 3.6 for public sector management and institutions, and 3.5 for structural reforms, underscoring progress in these crucial areas.
Efforts in Fiscal Consolidation
The report commended the central bank’s measures and the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts, which helped reduce inflation from over 50% in 2022 to 23.2% in December 2023.
The government’s commitment to fiscal discipline through various revenue and expenditure initiatives was also noted.
Debt Policy and Transparency Initiatives
Despite ongoing concerns about weak debt policy, the report acknowledged the government’s proactive engagement with creditors for comprehensive debt restructuring.
Significant steps have been taken to enhance transparency, including publishing an annual borrowing plan and an arrears clearance and prevention plan.
Trade Facilitation Strategies
While the report recognized the implementation of trade facilitation strategies, it also pointed out challenges such as inconsistencies, broken links in the trade inquiry portal, and limited adoption of a risk-based approach for inspections.
Sub-Saharan Africa Context
In the broader context of Sub-Saharan Africa, the average CPIA score for International Development Association (IDA) eligible countries remained stable at 3.1.
Notably, more countries saw improvements in their overall scores compared to those that were downgraded, with fewer countries experiencing declines than in the previous year’s assessment.
The 2024 CPIA Africa Report highlights the policy trends, best practices, and key changes in 39 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region following the World Bank’s annual Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) across IDA-eligible countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for 2023, with assessment scores ranging from 1 to 6.
