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Working Papers

Peer-reviewed research on development finance, institutional design, and economic transformation — produced by the Foundation's research team.

China–Africa Relations Economic Policy · Development Finance Latest
WP #2026-06

Beyond Loans: Positioning Ghana to Maximize Chinese Grant Financing

Dr. Eric Nii Amu Okotokata Dodoo-Amoo
Chinese lending to Africa has fallen more than 90 percent from its 2016 peak as Beijing pivots toward smaller, grant-financed "small yet beautiful" cooperation projects, formalized through RMB 80 billion in FOCAC 2025–2027 assistance commitments. For Ghana, navigating post-debt-restructuring fiscal consolidation under an IMF programme, this shift is a strategic opening rather than a constraint: grants create no new debt. This paper sets out six interconnected strategies for increasing Ghana's share of Chinese grant financing — FOCAC-aligned positioning, systematic use of the "small yet beautiful" framework, a green economy showcase strategy, digital diplomacy, agricultural cooperation, and think-tank and people-to-people diplomacy — alongside the institutional coordination needed to pursue them.
Institutional Design Development Finance
WP #2026-05

An Exploratory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study with Logistic Regression Analysis of Stakeholder Preferences for GWBD Operational Model Design

Dr. Eric Nii Amu Okotokata Dodoo-Amoo, Precious Bobie Ansah
This paper provides a theoretically grounded and empirically rigorous evaluation of the institutional design parameters for a proposed Ghana Women Development Bank (GWBD). Anchored in New Structural Economics (NSE), the study diagnoses persistent credit market failures affecting women-led MSMEs and assesses stakeholders' preferences between first-tier and second-tier operational models using binary logistic regression. Survey data from 119 stakeholders were analysed to identify governance risk perceptions as the dominant determinant of structural design preference.
Development Finance Institutional Design
WP #2026-04

Rise, Decline and Renaissance of Public Development Financing Institutions (PDFIs): The Case of Ghana

Dr. Eric Nii Amu Okotokata Dodoo-Amoo
This paper traces the historical trajectory of Public Development Financing Institutions (PDFIs) in Ghana, from the establishment of the Gold Coast Industrial Development Corporation (GCIDC) in 1952 through to the contemporary era. It examines how structuralism, neoliberalism, and New Structural Economics have shaped Ghana's PDFI landscape, and argues that the current renaissance of PDFIs, grounded in NSE principles, represents a critical opportunity for financing structural economic transformation.
China–Africa Relations Economic Policy
WP #2026-03

Accra as West Africa's Renminbi Clearing Hub: Why Ghana Must Act Before Others Go for It

Dr. Eric Nii Amu Okotokata Dodoo-Amoo
This paper argues that Ghana is uniquely positioned to become West Africa's RMB clearing hub. With aggregate ECOWAS-China trade estimated at US$60–70 billion annually, the absence of a regional RMB settlement infrastructure imposes significant avoidable costs. Drawing on evidence from comparable jurisdictions, the paper demonstrates that a bilateral currency swap agreement between the Bank of Ghana and the PBoC, coupled with a designated clearing bank, would save the region an estimated US$900 million to US$2 billion annually in transaction costs.
Economic Policy
WP #2026-02

Holiday Economies and Domestic Consumption: Lessons from China's Golden Week for Ghana's Emerging Holiday Economy

Dr. Eric Nii Amu Okotokata Dodoo-Amoo
This paper examines the deliberate policy design through which China engineered one of the world's most economically important public holiday systems, drawing from that experience to construct an actionable framework for Ghana's emerging holiday economy. Grounded in New Structural Economics (NSE), the argument is that Ghana does not need to replicate China's Golden Week wholesale but must instead identify the comparative advantages embedded in its own festival heritage, diaspora connectivity, and regional positioning, and then build the hard and soft infrastructure to enable those advantages to generate sustained economic returns.
Climate & Green Finance Development Finance
WP #2026-01

Development Finance Institutions and Climate-Smart Finance in Africa: The New Structural Economics Perspective

Makhetha S. Leseko, Dodoo-Amoo Eric Nii Amu Okotokata
The World Bank estimates Africa's annual adaptation cost, excluding the investment needed to put Sub-Saharan Africa on a low-carbon path, at a minimum of $18 billion between 2010 and 2050 — yet climate-smart finance on the continent remains skewed toward a handful of countries while most receive negligible support. This paper argues that multinational development banks can only close this gap if their financing is aligned to each country's stage of development and resource endowment structure, and applies a New Structural Economics framework to reposition the role of Development Finance Institutions in climate-smart infrastructure finance across Africa.
Institutional Design Development Finance
Journal Article

Theory, Practice and DFI Institutional Design: Case of the Lesotho National Development Corporation

Makhetha LS, Dodoo-Amoo ENAO, Mohaese T
The effectiveness of a development financing institution (DFI) in serving its mandate rests on its institutional design. In Lesotho, the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) is charged with directing manufacturing-sector development, yet its mandate stops short of financing the large-scale enterprises that a private-sector-led economy requires. This paper examines the LNDC's institutional design and financial structure, and concludes by weighing whether the LNDC should be merged with the Basotho Enterprise Development Corporation (BEDCO) or whether one of the two should be dissolved and its operations reassigned.
Industrialization Economic Policy
Journal Article

Retooling Industrial Technology Acquisition in Africa

Makhetha S. Leseko, Dodoo-Amoo Eric Nii Amu Okotokata
Post-WWII Asian economies such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong converged toward industrialized-economy growth rates, while Africa retained the lowest per-capita GDP through the same take-off period. This paper asks why, and sets out a feasible strategy for industrial technology acquisition grounded in Africa's latecomer advantage and the negotiating leverage created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA). The central conclusion is that industrialization can accelerate across the continent if policymakers redesign industrial policy to be explicitly technology-centric.