The Long-Term National Development Policy Framework “Vision 2057” is designed to provide a flexible guiding roadmap that allows successive governments to tailor their medium-term plans and programmes.
It sets the goal of elevating Ghana to an upper middle-income country status by 2057, the year the nation celebrates its centenary.
However, unlike previous rigid long-term development blueprints, Vision 2057 will not prescribe specific projects and actions for future administrations to implement.
The Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Prof Gyan Baffour, disclosed this at the Vision 2057 unveiling ceremony in Accra on Tuesday.
He stated that the policy framework outlines key goals, strategic pathways and targets, but does not impose a one-size-fits-all set of policies and interventions.
“Instead, it allows future governments the flexibility to choose their own priority programmes and development agenda in line with their respective manifestos and campaign promises to the electorate,” he added.
He noted that this flexible approach was borne out of lessons learned from Ghana’s past experiences with long-term development plans that were often abandoned or drastically revised when there was a change of government.
“We realised that rigid, prescriptive plans become difficult to implement when a new administration comes into office with its development vision and priorities as endorsed by the voters,” explained.
The NDPC chairman said that the plan does not dictate how future governments should pursue this objective, leaving them the margin to formulate their own specific policies, programmes and development interventions based on their respective philosophies and policy orientation.
“The Vision 2057 framework allows each administration to plot its unique path towards realising the long-term national development goals by 2057 while aligning with the overarching vision and strategic direction,” he explained.
Prof. Baffour urged political actors and stakeholders to uphold Vision 2057 as a non-partisan national agenda that transcends electoral cycles and partisan politics for its successful implementation.
He disclosed that the policy framework was developed through extensive consultations with stakeholders across various sectors to identify priorities, strategies and targets to guide coherent policymaking.
The policy identifies key focus areas like macroeconomic stability, human capital development, science and technology, land reforms, sustainable infrastructure and clean energy as critical drivers for the envisioned economic transformation. However, it does not impose how these areas should be addressed.
The NDPC will coordinate the implementation of Vision 2057 by reviewing the medium-term national development policy frameworks formulated by successive governments to ensure conformity with the long-term perspective.
These four-year medium-term plans will therefore inform the annual action plans and budgets executed across all Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
