{"id":109708,"date":"2026-01-03T12:58:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T12:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=109708"},"modified":"2026-01-03T12:58:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T12:58:21","slug":"policy-institutions-must-be-held-to-efficiency-standards-despite-their-mandate-bright-simons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=109708","title":{"rendered":"Policy institutions must be held to efficiency standards despite their mandate \u2013 Bright Simons"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Honorary Vice President of IMANI-Africa, Bright Simons, has called for stronger scrutiny of the cost and efficiency of government institutions, arguing that institutions created to drive national development must still be held to strict performance and sustainability standards.<\/p>\n

Speaking on JoyNews\u2019 <\/strong>Newsfile <\/em>on Saturday, January 3, Mr Simon said debates surrounding the GoldBod, the Bank of Ghana, and gold market interventions reflect a broader national challenge, noting that similar efficiency concerns cut across many state institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many policy institutions in this country where we assume efficiency simply because they are not profit-oriented. That assumption is dangerous,\u201d he cautioned.<\/p>\n

To support his argument, Mr Simon cited the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), describing it as a statutory public institution established to promote the cocoa sector, improve farmer welfare, and generate foreign exchange, rather than to make profits.<\/p>\n

\u201cCOCOBOD is not a limited liability company, yet we carefully track its losses and are rightly concerned about their impact on the sector,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

He said successive COCOBOD chief executives have repeatedly raised concerns about how persistent losses burden the cocoa industry, adding that his own analysis shows that COCOBOD\u2019s losses over the past four years are significantly lower than losses being discussed in some other policy interventions.<\/p>\n

According to Mr. Simon, if the state is prepared to rigorously assess COCOBOD\u2019s use of resources, the same standard must apply to other policy-driven institutions, including those involved in gold market operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the same logic. If we demand efficiency in one policy institution, we cannot excuse inefficiency in another,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

Mr. Simon also pointed to fuel pricing and subsidies as a familiar example of the cost implications of public policy, noting that fuel prices have a cascading effect on inflation, industrial activity and household welfare.<\/p>\n

\u201cFuel touches every part of the economy. That is why governments subsidised it for many years to protect businesses and ordinary citizens,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

However, he warned that when subsidies become unsustainable, the government is forced to introduce corrective measures, including taxes, to recover mounting costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that a policy is beneficial does not mean we should ignore inefficiency. At some point, the bill must be paid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He urged policymakers to balance developmental objectives with efficiency, transparency and fiscal discipline, warning that failure to do so could pose long-term risks to the country\u2019s economic stability.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"PolicyHonorary Vice President of IMANI-Africa, Bright Simons, has called for stronger scrutiny of the cost and efficiency of government institutions, arguing that institutions created to drive national development must still be held to strict performance and sustainability standards.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2840,1883,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bright-simons","category-national","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109708\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}