This panel will explore the importance of public sector effectiveness for development and inclusive growth, and recent evidence from Ghana on the impact of interventions, such as improving management practices and training, on public sector productivity. 

Good governance requires good people in government. The global goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 can only be achieved with effective governments in developing countries. Yet, low productivity and performance among civil servants significantly hinders the effectiveness of health, education, and other public service delivery and of government more broadly. Governments face fundamental challenges such as determining the right individuals to select for public sector jobs, recruiting these candidates effectively, and motivating them to perform well. 

Oriana Bandiera (@orianabandiera) is a Research Programme Director for the IGC State research programme and Member of the IGC Steering Group. She is also a Professor of Economics at LSE and the Director of STICERD.

Nana Kwasi Agyekum Dwamena is the Head of the Civil Service in Ghana. His career as a Civil Servant spans over a period of 26 years starting as a Management Analyst in 1988 at the Management Services Department (MSD). In 1995 Nana Agyekum Dwamena was posted to the Office of the Head of Civil Service where he worked as Head of the Reform Co-ordinating Unit. In 2005, he was subsequently appointed as the Director of the Performance Management Division.

Martin Williams (@Mar_tinW) is Associate Professor in Public Management at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, and Research Fellow at Green Templeton College. His research is on management, policy implementation, and political economy, mostly focused on Africa. His work involves close collaboration with governments to answer questions that are of interest to policymakers and academics alike, such as why some ministries work better than others, why many development projects never get finished, and what can be done to improve performance. Martin is an alumnus of LSE.

Jonathan Leape is the Executive Director of the IGC. Jonathan Leape is an Associate Professor of Economics at the LSE. He was the founding director of the Centre for Research into Economics and Finance in Southern Africa, which was established at LSE in 1990 as an initiative of the Commonwealth Heads of Government to support the democratic transition in South Africa.

The International Growth Centre (@The_IGC) aims to promote sustainable growth in developing countries by providing demand-led policy advice based on frontier research. The IGC directs a global network of world-leading researchers and in-country teams in Africa and South Asia and works closely with partner governments to generate high-quality research and policy advice on key growth challenges. Based at LSE and in partnership with the University of Oxford, the IGC is majority funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID).