The day the newly elected President John Agyekum Kufuor announced the nomination of Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom to the portfolio of Minister of Economic Planning & Regional Cooperation, he was in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire at the African Development Bank (ADB) working in his role as Advisor to the ADB’s Project AFRICA which involved business re-engineering and information systems implementation. 

This nomination sparked unprecedented nationwide interest in Dr. Nduom.  Parliament conducted extensive examination into the background and activities of Dr. Nduom.  His performance during the nationally televised Parliamentary vetting meetings endeared him to Ghanaians and made him one of the most recognized and popular incoming ministers.  Many appreciated the fact that he had made a sacrifice by leaving a job with the international public accounting and management consulting firm Deloitte & Touche to join government. 

Dr. Nduom was commended for starting his political career at the grassroots level as the elected member of the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem District Assembly for the Akotobinsin Electoral Area. 

Dr. Nduom’s participation in the President Kufuor’s Administration made the government “all inclusive” as promised by the President.  History was made and it was significant that Dr. Nduom, a leading member of the Convention People’s Party could serve as a Cabinet Minister in a New Patriotic Party (UP tradition) government.  The two parties have traditionally been very serious political opponents.

• Minister of Economic Planning & Regional Co-operation;
• Minister of Energy;
• Chairman, National Development Planning Commission;
• Member, Finance & Economy Committee of Cabinet (Economic Management Team);
• Chairman, Infrastructure Committee of Cabinet and;
• Minister, Public Sector Reform.

An important test of progress in the world today is extent of energy – petroleum and electricity used per capita in any country.  The higher the energy resource used, the more developed the country tends to be.   It is no wonder then that Ghana has not developed to our expectations over the past three decades.  Dr. Nduom’s greatest contribution to the energy sector was to give it a firm vision and quickly move to ensure that a road map is put into place for its implementation.

The vision in the energy sector ties productivity to the national vision.  President Kufuor’s Coordinated Social & Economic Programmes presented to Parliament included a goal for Ghana to become a middle-income country with a per capita income of $1,000.  The nation’s ability to meet and exceed this goal will depend largely on the performance of the energy sector.

It is only abundant and relatively cheap energy that will provide the fuel to power the private sector engine.  The point is that the public and private sectors in Ghana must pay particular attention to the energy sector if the Ghanaian economy is to grow to the extent that will allow the average Ghanaian to achieve an appreciable level of micro level prosperity.  Mechanised agriculture requires fuel to work.  ICT and any kind of advanced technology depend on sustained and reliable electricity and other energy resources.  Industry needs appropriately cost effective fuel and power to be profitable.  The internet revolution was developed on the back of abundant, cost-effective, reliable energy.  The media cannot disseminate information effectively without power. 

Dr. Nduom led the Ministry of Energy to carefully craft the vision to overcome challenges, supply the domestic demand and lead Ghana to become a net exporter of power and fuel in five years.  It is important to note that during his tenure, Dr. Nduom worked well with the Electricity Corporation of Ghana and the ECG to prevent load shedding and blackouts in Ghana.

Dr. Nduom’s plan for Ghana to become a net exporter of power in five years was to be met by the successful completion of projects that would ensure that we are self sufficient in power generation with significant excess power for export into the sub-region through the proposed West African Power Pool initiative.

These projects were designed to ensure we become and remain self-sufficient in our power requirements for a very long time.  They were planned to help us meet the development requirement of abundant power.  In addition, Dr. Nduom signed the MOU with Chinese officials leading to preliminary discussions on the Bui Dam project.

The West African Gas Pipeline Project (WAGP) will help to reduce the cost of power generation from our thermal plants.  It will significantly reduce the cost of fuel as it will replace light crude oil as primary fuel. The gas will be used by industry and become a catalyst for industrial development in Ghana.  This is an ECOWAS endorsed and private/public sector sponsored project that is envisaged to transport by pipeline, natural gas from Nigeria for utilization in Benin, Togo and Ghana mainly for power generation and also for industrial use.  It must be noted that beyond the lower cost fuel, several other benefits also accrue to Ghana. 

This will include significant tax revenues from the pipeline’s operations; the opportunities for Ghana to generate additional power to serve the needs of our inland neighbours in particular under the West Africa Power Pool; and the establishment and development of formal commercial, legal and trade practices, procedures and associated legislation to support cross-border transactions.

Dr. Nduom chaired the WAGP Council of Ministers to execute the project and financial documents associated with the project leading to the ceremonial ground breaking for the project to commence in November, 2004 at Aboadze.

• The addition of a new topping unit to the existing facilities at TOR to increase capacity to over 60,000 barrels per stream day.
• The construction of up to 150,000 barrels per stream day capacity refinery by the private sector in the Western Region.  This is being promoted by the Ministry. Products from this refinery will be earmarked for export.
• The installation of a Single Point Mooring (SPM) and Conventional Buoy Mooring (CBM) facilities offshore Tema to improve crude oil and finished products discharge and export operations.

When the Kufuor administration took over the management of the economy, there was no national petroleum strategic reserve to serve as a buffer in times of shortages.  We have been able to build up a stock level of three weeks with a value of US$ 18 million. It is our intention to continue the build to the ultimate target of 6 weeks of petroleum stock by 2007.  Our goal to meet domestic needs and become a net exporter of petroleum products will be met by actions including the following:

The state-owned Ghana Oil Company was strengthened to become a leading and profitable oil marketing company in Ghana. 

The Ministry promoted cooperation between Ghana and Equatorial Guinea and led delegations to negotiate the supply of crude oil from Equatorial Guinea in exchange for petroleum products refined in Ghana at prices favourable to both countries. 

This was to serve as the first in a series of arrangements of the exchange of crude oil for refined products that would put Ghana on the map as a petroleum products exporter.

Over the period, the Ministry of Energy completed the review of the petroleum exploration licensing legal and fiscal framework to enhance the competitiveness of Ghana’s hydrocarbon exploration efforts.  Deep water West Africa had become the new frontier in the petroleum business.  The Ministry of Energy worked actively to attract investors with the right technical and financial resources so that we may find the oil and gas that is available to us. 

Ghana attracted world class petroleum companies to participate in exploration activities.  Indeed, it is instructive to note that it was during the tenure of Dr. Nduom as Energy Minister that the exploration agreement with Cosmos Energy was signed.  This is the agreement that has resulted in the announcement made by President Kufuor on June 18th about a significant oil find in Ghana.

To ensure a results-orientation at the Public Sector Reform Ministry stakeholders were engaged on several different occasions to help develop a work programme and determine priorities for reform.  Consequently, a Comprehensive Public Sector Reform Work Programme was launched by the President in March, 2006.

There is a desperate need for an effective public-private partnership to propel Ghana to new heights of growth and development.  It is the expectation that the Ministry will champion this cause.  This requires more efficient government machinery and a change in traditional public sector attitudes.

1.  The Ministry has instituted an annual public services week to highlight the roles, responsibilities and mandate of the public services and to put clearly in the public’s view, the conditions under which public servants work.  Also, the purpose and objectives are to promote as well as forge a national partnership for an effective, efficient, transparent and accountable service delivery and to encourage greater cooperation and collaboration between public sector organizations. The aim is to promote public private partnership to enhance our development prospects.

2.  The Ministry has implemented Service Delivery Improvement in more than 20 agencies.  The number is being increased to 68 (including some district assemblies).  This is to encourage our public servants to understand the role that their public services play in society.  A good example is the DVLA which under trying circumstances is continuously improving revenue and service to the public.

3.  The public sector wage bill and related expenditures take about 60% of all government revenues (taxes).  Pay Reform including rationalization of staff strength and productivity is an essential, high priority initiative.  A new Comprehensive Pay Structure has been implemented to provide the foundation for pay reform.  Through this, the administration has corrected in large measure the distortions and wrongful placements in public sector pay that has developed over several years.  In the process, we embarked upon a national exercise to value all jobs in the public services to place them along a single spine as a first step in bringing equity into the way government pays its workers.

4.  The Ministry’s efforts in collaboration with others has resulted in the passing of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission bill by Parliament to give legal backing to  the body that will maintain the new salary structure and be responsible for negotiations between government and its workers.  This was achieved through a remarkable demonstration of team work between the Ministers of Finance, Manpower and Public Sector Reform.  But it was the technical and enthusiastic leadership of the Ministry of Public Sector Reform that has made it possible for government’s commitment gain concrete expression.  

5.  The Ministry has acted in various ways in response to the call for better leadership in the public services – leadership that focuses on service delivery that is of high quality and that is timely.  For the first time in years, the appointment of Chief Directors have been confirmed in a manner that is bringing stability to the leadership rank of the Civil Service.  Residential programmes are being implemented for the leadership of the Civil Service (Chief Directors and Directors) at GIMPA to improve their knowledge, skill and attitude.

6.  The Ministry has worked to ensure the passage of the Subvented Agencies bill to become law to regulate the activities of the over 180 such agencies in Ghana.  This will control their impact on the Consolidated Fund and ensure their effectiveness and efficiency.  Activities have been started to restructure high profile agencies such as the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.
7.  One important contribution Dr. Nduom has made to the reform agenda in government and Ghanaian society is the relentless pursuit of financial resources and technical support to make the implementation good ideas possible.  This took him to the United Kingdom, France, Italy, South Africa, the United States of America and other parts of the world and to many international conferences to promote Ghana’s public sector reform work programme. 

Through his personnel efforts and credibility in managing reforms in Ghana, he has been able to attract significant funding from development partners – funding the Ghana budget could not provide.  Formal cooperation agreements are being implemented with the United Kingdom through DFID, the Republic of France, Italy, the UNDP, the Netherlands and Canada.  A US treasury advisor, a French advisor and others are providing technical assistance to the reform effort.  Ghanaians have had the opportunity to study how the public services work in the USA, France, the UK, South Africa and elsewhere.

GIMPA and other public services training institutions have received significant attention and support to help improve the human capital available to the public sector.

The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) was proposed by President George Bush in 2002 as a new compact to channel development assistance to developing countries. The goal of the Millennium Challenge Account is “poverty reduction through growth”.  Unlike other traditional development assistance programmes where the donor proposes how funds are used, countries selected under the Millennium Challenge Account allows developing countries like Ghana to take ownership and responsibility for funds provided by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

Countries are selected for the program based on three fundamental principles.  Happily the principles are the priority areas in the Ghana’s Growth & Poverty Reduction Strategy:

As a result of the technical and managerial leadership Dr. Nduom provided to the Ghana MCA Project Team, the Compact was signed on August 1, 2006 at an impressive ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC and is worth $547,009,000.  It is strong testimony to the mutual respect and great relationship between the government and people of Ghana on the one hand, and the government and the people of the United States of America on the other. 

This great relationship goes back several years.  Over forty years ago, President Dwight Eisenhower and our first President Kwame Nkrumah signed the agreement that made possible, the Volta River Project.  It is this project that gave birth to the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam that formed the basis for production of aluminium in Ghana.

The funds from the Compact between the Government of Ghana and the Millennium Challenge Corporation are being used to help reduce poverty by transforming our rural economy through the modernization of agriculture.  The agriculture project will include the improvement of social infrastructure in three specific agricultural areas in Ghana: the Southern Horticultural Area, the Afram Basin and the Northern Agricultural Belt.  Twenty-three (23) districts are included in the project.  More than 1000 kilometers of feeder roads and trunk roads in the participating districts areas will be rehabilitated and improved.

Economic analysis shows that the proposed MCA program will have a strong impact on the economy. Apart from increasing the incomes of rural food crop farmers and their families, the net contribution to the economy annually is expected to be about $160 million in today’s prices. Employment will be created for over 700,000 people including farmers, farm-workers, employees and entrepreneurs in the supplying industries.  In all more than two (2) million people will benefit directly from the Compact.

In terms of poverty, it is expected that the program will reduce the incidence of poverty by about 5 percentage points over the first ten years from the beginning of the programme. Over the first ten years, more that one million people will move out of poverty. 

Through an Act of Parliament, the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has been put in place to be responsible for the supervision, management and implementation of the Compact.  MiDA has a Board of Directors and a Chief Executive who will report to the Board and be responsible for the day to day administration of the Authority and a team of Directors who will be responsible for the various units that make up the Authority.  The entity will use the Public Private Partnership concept as a vehicle for development so that the end result will be the promotion of growth through the private sector.

Dr. Nduom has the responsibility as Chairman of the MiDA Board to ensure that goals and objectives of the Ghana MCA program are met.

Dr. Nduom made broke new grounds once again by initiating and hosting the first meeting of MCA eligible countries in Africa in Accra on June 11-12 2007 to promote country ownership and accountability.  He did this to promote the idea that African countries will not gain much from the MCA initiative if they do not take control over the programs through their own transparent and diligent technical expertise and management.