Accra: Dr Nii Moi Thompson, Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), has challenged Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Ghana to undergo a 'productivity revolution' in response to declining donor funding and growing demands for transparency and local impact. He emphasized that the sustainability of civil society in Ghana now hinges on its ability to do more with less by becoming more efficient, transparent, and results-driven in the face of declining donor support and increasing public scrutiny.
According to Ghana News Agency, Dr Thompson addressed participants at the opening of the 2025 Ghana Civil Society Forum (GCSF) in Accra, warning that without bold internal reforms, CSOs risk becoming irrelevant in a rapidly shifting development landscape. The 2025 Forum, organized by STAR-Ghana Foundation in partnership with Oxfam, WACSI, Transparency International Ghana, and others, seeks to reposition civil society as a vital, independent, and credible force in Ghana's development journey.
'With shrinking external aid and rising scrutiny, civil society must do more than survive; they must transform. This means maximizing the use of every Cedi, proving their impact, and rebuilding public trust,' he stated. The two-day forum, themed 'Reimagining Development Financing and Civic Action - Challenges, Opportunities, and the Way Forward,' has gathered over 500 actors from across Ghana's civic space, including community-based organizations, national think tanks, academia, donor agencies, and government representatives.
Dr Thompson, a former Director-General of the NDPC and now its Chairman, highlighted that the era of unrestricted donor support is fast fading, with traditional aid models giving way to locally driven development financing. He pointed out that only two percent of global development aid reaches local organizations in the Global South, which he argued reflects profound systemic inequalities in the distribution of resources within the global development aid system.
To navigate these realities, the NDPC Chairman urged CSOs to embrace strategies such as engaging high-net-worth individuals, exploring hybrid financing models, and leveraging technology-driven tools like crowdfunding and mobile money platforms. However, he cautioned that 'none of these will matter' without strong internal systems and measurable results.
Dr Thompson further identified a growing crisis of legitimacy within the civic sector, citing public concerns about transparency, elitism, and questionable leadership practices in some organizations. He questioned, 'Who does civil society truly represent; the people or their funders?' and stressed the need for accountability in practice, not just in preaching.
To restore credibility, he advocated for stronger governance structures within CSOs, enhanced collaboration across the sector to reduce duplication, and a shift in focus from donor alignment to grassroots priorities. He also urged the civic sector to be cautious of accepting foreign funds tied to ideologies or agendas that may conflict with Ghana's cultural values or development priorities.
Drawing on global examples, he cited China, Japan, and South Korea as countries that effectively used foreign aid to build strong national systems, emphasizing that the issue was not aid itself, but how it was used. He warned that Ghana's development crisis was as much about institutional weakness as it was about 'values deficit,' pointing to acts of civic indiscipline and corruption that undermined progress, remarking, 'Fix our values and institutions, and Ghana could be heaven on earth.'
Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, who opened the Forum, also underscored the urgency of a new development paradigm, calling for a shift from dependency to local ownership. Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu, Executive Director of STAR-Ghana Foundation, noted that the civic sector was at a critical turning point, highlighting the forum's theme was chosen in response to shrinking global aid, shifting donor priorities, and increasing questions around the legitimacy and sustainability of CSOs. 'We must challenge the development models and partnerships that have shaped our past,' he concluded.
