President John Dramani Mahama has inaugurated a 37-member Nation­al Development Planning Commis­sion (NDPC) with a task to deliver a “bold and transformative path” for the country’s development.

He wants the Commission to develop a long-term development plan that would transcend political regimes to Ghana’s prog­ress for generations.

The Commission amongst others is mandated to co-ordinate the decentralised development planning systems both at the district, regional and national levels.

Swearing in the Commission in Accra yesterday, President Mahama charged the Commission to develop the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Devel­opment Policies in line with the NDPC Act, 1994, (Act 479).

The programme, which he is enjoined to present to Parliament within two years, would form the basis for the medium-term national development policy framework.

He underscored the need for the Com­mission to broadly consult with the citizenry to draw a development plan that addresses the needs of the people.

President Mahama observed that nearly seven decades after independence, Gha­na’s economy continue to rely heavily on a narrow range of primary commodities, with limited diversification and value addition.

He noted the existence of multiple long-term development plans including the Gha­na Beyond Aid Charter, the Ghana@100 Long-term Development Framework, and the Vision 2057 Perspective Framework.

President Mahama urged that, in close collaboration with Parliament, the frame­works are consolidated into a single working document for easy implementation.

Chairman of the Commission, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, said the Commission would support the President to deepen decentrali­sation in the country.

Dr Thompson commended President Mahama for government’s decision to decentralise the management of waste by tasking the assemblies with the responsibility to manage their own sanitation.

“We need more of such decentralisation. The practice of procuring goods and ser­vices for district assemblies from Accra does not only undermine their ability to manage their own affairs, but it also represents the extraction and repatriation of wealth from those districts to Accra. It aggravates inequality and undermines the Constitution­al objective of equitable development,” Dr Thompson stated.

Other members of the Committee are the ministers for finance, gender, children and social protection, tourism, culture and creative arts, local government, chieftaincy and religious affairs, trade, agribusiness and industry, labour, jobs and employment, representation from all 16 regions, organised labour, academia, amongst others identifi­able groups.

The Commission is expected to work through eight sub-committees in the areas of the economy, transport and logistics, energy and private sector development, agriculture and natural resources, employ­ment, productivity, and earnings, public sector reforms and governance, social de­velopment, and infrastructure and land use management.

Child Rights International (CRI) has urged authorities to be sensitive to the fundamental rights of children involved in the recent swoop by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to rid the streets of Accra of migrant beggars.

The CRI said the government must adopt a more “child-sensitive and coordinated approach” in dealing with the situation since it involved children and adults.

The operation, which took place on Friday, May 16, 2025, targeted major areas like Kane­shie, Abossey Okai, and Kwame Nkrumah Circle, and led to the “arrest” of over 2,000 individuals with more than 1,300 of them being children, many of whom are foreign nationals.

The Executive Director of CRI, Mr Bright Appiah, addressing the media in Accra yester­day said while it was “illegal and unsafe” for children to beg on the streets, any interven­tion involving children must uphold their rights and dignity, regardless of their nation­ality.

He expressed concern about the high number of children caught in the exercise and emphasized that the issue was not just one of “public order, but of child protection.”

He stressed that these children should not be treated as offenders but rather as vulnera­ble individuals in need of care and protection.

Mr Appiah referred to both international and local laws to support its position.

“The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which Ghana ratified in 1990, clearly outlines that children should not face discrimination and that their best interests must be a primary consideration in all matters affecting them,” he explained.

According to him, “Ghana’s Children’s Act further states that any child who is homeless, begging, or living in unsafe conditions is enti­tled to state protection.

Mr Appiah said the lack of coordination raises serious questions about how the chil­dren were being cared for after the operation and whether any proper procedures were in place for their reintegration or repatriation.

He mentioned the risk to Ghana’s inter­national image and national security if such operations continued without a structured and humane approach.

The child right advocate warned that the presence of children on the streets was more than a moral failure, adding that it was a social and economic problem that drain public resources.

He said a 2015 government report estimat­ed that child abuse alone costs Ghana up to GH¢1.44 billion annually.

The Executive Director urged the gov­ernment to make long-term changes and recommended that authorities collect proper identification and bio-data of everyone involved in such operations to ensure no child was lost in the system.

He called for detailed case assessments to better understand each child’s background and needs.

This he said would help in tracing families and reuniting children with them safely.

“CRI wants the government to set clear and consistent procedures for handling foreign children found on the streets. These should include safe return protocols and legal coop­eration with the countries of origin,” he said.

He said stronger border monitoring and immigration systems were also needed to pre­vent illegal entry and better protect vulnerable children from exploitation or trafficking.

Mr Appiah insisted that operations like the recent GIS swoop should not be repeated without proper planning and agency collabo­ration.

“We believe that if Ghana is to truly protect its children and meet its legal obligations, it must treat this issue as a national emergency and a rights-based and child-focused strategy is not just ideal — it is a necessity,” he said.

Mr Appiah called on all government agen­cies to work together to put the interests of every child first,” failure to act responsibly and urgently risks leaving hundreds of children on the streets, exposed to danger and stripped of hope.”

President John Dramani Mahama had extended a hand of invitation to European investors to take advantage of Ghana’s improving economy to venture into the country for mutual benefit.

He said there were investment opportu­nities in agro industrial zones, renewable energy and green finance, pharmaceutical in­dustry, digital infrastructure and innovation, transport and connectivity amongst others.

President Mahama who stated this in Accra yesterday during the Ghana-Europe­an Union (EU) Business Forum, said since taking the reins of power in January this year, the economic indices of the country had improved with better projections into the future.

The programme organised by the Eu­ropean Union (EU) and the Government of Ghana was under the theme “Fostering investment in high growth potential value chains under the EU Global Gateway Strat­egy.”

As part of the programme, the EU signed several support packages to the country and some private organisations totalling more than four billion euros.

President Mahama said “Under my lead­ership, Ghana is embarking on a new era of industrial diversification, youth employment, and green transformation and the role of investors and strategic partnerships will be indispensable.”

Ghana, the President noted, was emerg­ing from a period of fiscal distress, high inflation, and declining investor confidence amongst other negative indicators.

According to him, the tide of economic turbulence was turning around with a steep adjustment in the primary balance from negative 3.9 of GDP by end of year 2024 to a projected positive 1.5 of Gross Domestic Product by end of this year.

“These bold and targeted interventions are beginning to witness early signs of eco­nomic recovery and renewed momentum,” he emphasized.

The updated real composite index of economic activity, he disclosed recorded an annual growth of 2.3 per cent for the first quarter of 2025 compared to 1.0 per cent for the same period last year.

With inflation easing to 21.2 from 23.8 at the end of 2024, a single digit inflation pro­jected by middle of 2026, appreciating cedi, gross international reserve improving from $8.9 billion to $10.6 billion amongst other positive economic indicators, though early in the year, President Mahama said the future looks even brighter.

“My government’s vision is to build a resilient and dynamic economy that creates jobs, adds value to our natural resources and empowers small and medium enterprises to scale up globally.

“I assure all potential partners that under this administration, Ghana is committed to transparent governance, policy predictability, and a reformed business environment,” he stressed.

The Deputy Director-General of Inter­national Partnerships of the EU, Myriam Ferran, said the forum aimed to identify new business and trade opportunities, facilitating partnerships, and enhancing investment through risk guarantee schemes like the Eu­ropean Fund for Sustainable Development Goals.

She noted that EU investments in Ghana had doubled since 2016, reaching €4 billion in 2023 and said there was further opportu­nities to increase trade between Ghana and EU.

Ms Ferran said EU was supporting a lot of projects to accelerate the socio-economic development of Ghana and said the projects were in the areas of feeder roads, irrigation systems, agriculture, energy and health, adding that discussions were underway to support Ghana with 135 million euros to support energy infrastructure to improve electricity supply in Northern Ghana and rural communities.

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Agri­business, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, said the government was committed to creating a transparent and conducive business environ­ment that fostered investment and economic transformation.

She said Ghana and EU had enjoyed long standing relationship, adding that Ghana and EU cooperation should move beyond raw commodities to value-added production and technology transfer.

Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said Ghana was also seeking EU collaboration to build a strong pharmaceutical industry, aiming to become a manufacturing hub for vaccines and essential medicines in West Africa.

The EU Ambassador to Ghana, Irchard Razaaly, said EU and Ghana shared a com­mon development mission, saying that the EU was committed to the development of Ghana, and would support the government to address the growing unemployment chal­lenge facing the country.