Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Jo int Danida Ev A 2 Asiatisk Plads lu ati Dk-1448 Copenhagen k o Denmark N o F T Tel +45 33 92 00 00 h E Fax +45 32 54 05 33 Gh [email protected] ana www.um.dk -D enma Joint EvAluatioN oF ThE rk D Ghana-Denmark DEvElopment CooperatioN E v E lo 1990-2006 pment Coo Joint EvAluatioN oF ThE Ghana-Denmark pe DEvElopment CooperatioN 1990-2006 r ati evaluation 2008.03 o N 1990-2006 This evaluation focuses on the development cooperation between Ghana and Denmark during the period 1990 to 2006. It was commissioned by the Department for Evaluation of Development Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark in cooperation with the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) in Ghana. The main purpose of the evaluation has been to evaluate the outcomes of the development efforts and distill lessons learned for future development cooperation. The report is based on an extensive amount of documentation concerning the development cooperation as well as on interviews and group discussions with key stakeholders in Ghana and Denmark. Designgrafik 2008. ISBN: 978-87-7667-937-8 / 12540 e-ISBN: 978-87-7667-938-5 03 ISSN: 1399-4972 Map of Ghana 2° 1° 0° 1° V o B URKINA l FASO Bitou GHANA ta Léo S Pô R isi ou B li ge ou 11 g GHANA ° o Bawku u Navrongo r Hamale Tumu Diébougou i Zebila Dapaong ba UPPER EAST Lawra Bolgatanga Nakpanduri ti UPPER WEST Gambaga O Gaoua Wulugu Mango BENIN B K Wawjawga l o a lp c a k Wa w n 10 V ° o 10 l ° t Gushiago Batié a Guérin Volt Varalé hite a Kouka Djougou W NORTHERN Kara Daboya � Tamale Yendi Bafilo Bouna Sawla Bassar Zabzugu Gbenshe Japei Bole 9 é a ° o Damango k Sokodé 9 a ° m ti o D Bimbila K O ta Koutouba ol V Salaga k c T OGO a l B CÔTE D'IVOIRE M Blitta o n o Yeji Bondoukou Bamboi Kintampo 8 Elavagnon ° Sampa Dumbai 8° A n BRONG-AHAFO i a Kwadjokrom Kete Krachi e B Wenchi ru Tain Techiman P Atebubu VOLTA Kadjebi Berekum Badou Atakpamé � Jasikan Ejura Sunyani Am Apéyémé o Agnibilekrou u Bechem Hohoe Afra Lake 7 m Kpandu ° Mampong Volta Notsé 7° ASHANTI Kpalimé Abengourou Agogo EASTERN Goaso Kumasi � Konongo Ho S i a Adriemba Nkawkaw o i L. Bosumtwi B Anyirawasi Tsévié Bibiani Bekwai A n Begoro u im Wiawso Awaso m ir Akosombo Dzodze B Dam o Obuasi n Vo � a e lta Aného T Kade es Aflao nk 6 a Koforidua Sogakofe Lomé ° WES TERN Dunkwa Oda m 6 a Keta Lagoon ° Enchi s Keta Asankrangwa A Nsawam GREATER oé Foso Shai 1 m ACCRA Ada Anloga ° o Bawdia Hills K Swedru � Tema Bogoso Twifu Praso Teshi National capital Aboisso CENTRAL Accra Prestea Regional capital P r a Town, village a Lagune r Tarkwa Winneba b Aby o � � Airport k n Elmina Saltpond Gulf of G uinea Newtown A International boundary 5 Cape Coast ° Half Assini Esiama 5° Regional boundary � Sekondi Axim Takoradi Main road 0 25 50 75 100 km The boundaries and names shown and the designations Secondary road Cape Three used on this map do not imply official endorsement or Points acceptance by the United Nations. Railroad 0 253° 50 75 mi 2° 1° 0° Map No. 4186 UNITED NATIONS Department of Public Information May 2002 Cartographic Section Joint Evaluation of the Ghana-Denmark Development Cooperation 1990-2006 August 2008 © Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark August 2008 Production: Evaluation Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Cover Photo: Jørgen Schytte Graphic Production: Designgrafik A/S, Copenhagen Print: Schultz Grafisk ISBN: 978-87-7667-937-8 e-ISBN: 978-87-7667-938-5 ISSN: 1399-4972 This report can be obtained free of charge by ordering on www.evaluation.dk or from: DBK Logistik Service Mimersvej 4 DK 4600 Koege Denmark Telephone: +45 32 69 77 88 The report can be downloaded through the homepage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.um.dk or directly from the homepage of the Evaluation Department www.evaluation.dk Contact: [email protected] Responsibility for the content and presentation of findings and recommendations rests with the authors. The views and opinions expressed in the report do not necessarily correspond to the views of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Preface Denmark has provided development assistance to Ghana since independence in 1957. Up to the end of the 1980s the assistance was comprised of social support through NGOs and various projects funded by Danish government loans and grants tied to industrial purposes, water, electricity supply, cold stores, and agricultural equipment. A Danish Embassy was opened in 1961, but closed in 1983 as a consequence of the continuous political and economic decline in the country. Ghana was among the first Danish 12 programme cooperation countries identified in 1989, and in 1991 the Danish Embassy was reopened in Accra. The Ghanaian-Danish development cooperation has expanded gradually from 1990 until the present day. In 2005 Ghana was the second largest receiver of Danish bilateral assistance, while in 2006 it ranked fourth. The total Danish funded assistance during 1990-2006 has been close to DKK 4 billion. A Ghana Joint Assistance Strategy (G-JAS) between key development partners is cur- rently being developed. In early 2007, a general, common part had been submitted by the development partners in Ghana to the Government of Ghana for comments. Denmark is participating in the process. The current Danish strategy for development cooperation with Ghana covers the period 2004-08 and links the Danish assistance to Ghana’s own poverty reduction strategy. The considerable long-term Danish development cooperation with Ghana has been partly evaluated through a number of sector-wide or thematic eval- uations and performance reviews, however, an evaluation of the substantial Danish- Ghanaian development cooperation in its totality has so far not been carried out. Thus, this current evaluation could be regarded as an appropriate assessment of lessons learned from bilateral development assistance keeping the G-JAS in perspective. To further the partnership principles the management of the evaluation has been under- taken in close cooperation between the Evaluation Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EVAL) in Denmark and the National Development Planning Commis- sion (NDPC) in Ghana which is responsible for overall monitoring and evaluation of Ghana´s development policies and strategies. EVAL has taken a lead role as regards fund- ing, contracting and implementation management. At the same time, participation of NDPC can be seen as a contribution to the development of evaluation capacity in NDPC and the joint experience gained could be useful for future country programme assesse- ments, in particular for future evaluations of the joint assistance strategies. The main purpose of the evaluation is to evaluate achievements against the overall devel- opment objectives as formulated in development strategies, including the development strategy presented by Ghana in Paris in June 1993; the Ghana Vision 2020; the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy from 2002; the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy (2000- 02); the Ghana Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (September 2005) as well as the Danish Strategy ‘Partnership 2000’ and the country strategies for collaboration between Ghana and Denmark published in 1993, 1998 and 2004. The efforts and achievements are assessed against the contemporary context and standards prevailing at the time, when decisions were made. The approach of this evaluation has been inspired by debates among partners in the DAC Network on Development Evaluation concerning evalua- tions of development assistance at country level and draws on the approach developed for the Evaluation of Danish Assistance to Uganda from 2006. The evaluation assesses the Danish contribution to the development efforts in Ghana in view of the general develop- 3 Preface ment efforts made in Ghana during the evaluation period and in view of the combined efforts by development partners to support these. The assessment of the contribution of Danish financed activities to Ghana´s development and lessons learned concerning strate- gic choices, implementation modalities and other aspects of the Ghana-Denmark devel- opment cooperation comprises the main bulk of the evaluation, however. The evaluation has been carried out by a team of external consultants headed by Mr. Georg Ladj from the German company Particip GmbH. It has been conducted in accordance with the DAC’s evaluation guidelines and quality standards for evaluations. This synthesis report presents the final conclusions and recommendations of the evalua- tion. The perception study and various thematic papers conducted as part of the evalua- tion as well as the appendices to the evaluation are contained in the attached CD-ROM. The report and thematic papers may also be found at www.evaluation.dk and at www.ndpc.gov.gh We thank all stakeholders and evaluation participants for their valuable contributions without which the evaluation could not have been completed. Evaluation Department National Development Planning Commission Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ghana Denmark 4 Acknowledgements The evaluation was led by Dr. Georg Ladj and included Elijah Yaw Danso, John Clifton, Jørgen Estrup, Emmanuel Boadi, Patience Agyare-Kwabi and Marilyn Ama Aniwa. Project management was provided by Johannes G. Walter and Libor Grošpic, and quality assurance by Dr. René Madrid and Dr. Dieter Nill. Additional support for the evaluation was provided by Johannes Ohnmacht. The evaluation team would like to express their gratitude to representatives of the Government of Ghana, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the Royal Danish Embassy in Accra, the members of the Reference Groups and all others that provided valuable input into the evaluation in one another during discussions, interviews, meet- ings or focus group workshops.