The World Bank Group has held its first discussion in Accra with a number of civil society organisations and development partners, on the group’s country partnership framework with Ghana for the next six years.

Mr Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director, said whenever the World Bank Group had engagements with any country, such engagements were always carried out within the context of a framework.

He said the Country Partnership Framework is important for both government and the World Bank Group teams, “so that we collectively agree upon the focus of our engagement going forward, even though there may be a need for adjustments along the way.”

Mr Laporte said the World Bank Group sought to launch the six-year partnership framework in July 2020, to lay out the Group’s development partnership with Ghana within the period.

He said the Group would hold consultations with major stakeholders in the country’s development such as parliamentarians and people in both the public and private sector in order to come up with a framework that is as relevant as possible to the actual developmental needs of the country.

“We would like the Country Partnership Framework to be very strategic. There is the need to focus on fewer larger engagements, which can yield sustained and substantial results,” said Mr Laporte.

He said the aim of the World Bank Group was to have a situation where after some months of broad-based discussions, Ghanaians would have a common view of which areas had to be dealt with in the country partnership framework.

Mr Laporte said the framework was coming at an important time, with regards to the government’s Ghana Beyond Aid initiative.

“It is an opportunity for the Bank to help Government leverage the significant development gains, into ongoing wider and shared prosperity,” he said.