NDPC Calls for Evidence-Driven Human Capital Planning
The Chief Planning Analyst of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Mr Peter Porekuu, has called for a stronger commitment to evidence-informed policymaking to address Ghana’s human capital development challenges and improve long-term planning outcomes.
Speaking on behalf of the Director-General, Dr Audrey Smock Amoah, during a panel discussion at the Evidence to Action 2026 Conference, he highlighted persistent mismatches between education, skills training, and labour market demands as he posed critical questions about workforce planning.
“How many doctors do we need in Ghana? How many professors do we need?”
He stressed that addressing such gaps requires a long-term rethink of human capital development and stronger collaboration between academia and policymakers to generate evidence that is credible, relevant, and responsive to the needs of young people.
Mr Porekuu also drew attention to the District Development Database Platform, developed by the NDPC in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government, GIZ, and other partners.
The platform serves as a centralised repository of development data from all 261 districts across the country.
However, he questioned the absence of adequate incentives for data entry and utilisation, warning that without clear motivation and institutional commitment, the platform risks being underused.
He further called for a realistic assessment of how research findings influence policy decisions, noting that while many academic theses contain policy recommendations, only a limited number are translated into actionable interventions.
According to him, stronger incentives and institutional mechanisms are needed to bridge the gap between research production and policy implementation.
Delivering the keynote address on the topic “From Evidence to Impact: Understanding the ‘How’ and ‘Why’,” Dr Julius Muia, a finance and public policy expert, highlighted the persistent gap between research and policy in Africa, noting that weak linkages between researchers and decision-makers, limited funding for research, and poor systems for translating evidence into usable formats continue to hinder impact.
He also noted that frequent political changes also disrupt long-term development planning and therefore called for stronger incentives for evidence use, better access to research outputs, and improved dissemination through digital tools, including artificial intelligence, as well as greater engagement with the media to ensure research findings are widely understood and effectively applied in policymaking.
The conference brought together policymakers, researchers, and development practitioners from across Africa and Asia to examine conditions for strengthening evidence-informed practice.
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