THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES POLICY BRIEF LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Actors in

The document examines the struggle of Ghana's MMDAs to transition from basic service provision to facilitating broad-based local economic development. It highlights a critical gap in fiscal decentralisation, noting that MMDAs are heavily dependent on unreliable central government transfers, specifically the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), while internally generated funds remain too low to cover recurrent expenditures. The brief argues that certain central government initiatives, such as the "one-constituency, one-million dollar" program, undermine decentralisation by bypassing MMDAs through special development authorities. To address these issues, the document recommends that MMDAs expand their revenue bases, create business-friendly environments for start-ups, and foster collaborations with the private sector and civil society to reduce poverty and unemployment.

• Ghana has successfully advanced political and administrative decentralisation, but fiscal decentralisation remains problematic, hindering the ability of MMDAs to promote local economic development.
• MMDAs suffer from weak financial capacities and are largely dependent on the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), which is described as unreliable, irregular, and insufficient.
• Internally generated funds (IGFs) for MMDAs are too low to meet recurrent expenditures, leaving most districts dependent on central government grants.
• There are significant disparities in DACF allocations; for the second quarter of 2018, the highest allocation went to Asokore Mampong Municipal Assembly (GHC1,735,964.14) and the lowest to Juaboso District Assembly (GHC355,355.03), with over 90 percent of MMDAs receiving less than GHC500,000.00.
• Certain central government initiatives are counter-productive to decentralisation; for example, the "one-constituency, one-million dollar" initiative uses special development authorities that usurp the functions of MMDAs and receive higher funding than the DACF.
• The Nation Builders' Corps initiative further strains the financial position of MMDAs because it relies on the DACF to pay monthly allowances to beneficiaries.

APA

Good Governance Africa (n.d.). THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES POLICY BRIEF LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Actors in. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2020/04/LED-Policy-Brief-Dr.-Anaafo.pdf

Chicago

Good Governance Africa. THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES POLICY BRIEF LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Actors in. n.d. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2020/04/LED-Policy-Brief-Dr.-Anaafo.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Good Governance Africa |title=THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES POLICY BRIEF LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Actors in |url=https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2020/04/LED-Policy-Brief-Dr.-Anaafo.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{goodgovernanceafricandroles, author = {{Good Governance Africa}}, title = {{THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES POLICY BRIEF LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Actors in}}, institution = {Good Governance Africa}, url = {https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2020/04/LED-Policy-Brief-Dr.-Anaafo.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }