Tribute to Hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu By Dr. K.Y. Amoako (Founder and President, African Center for Economic Transformation and former Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa)
The news of the sudden death of Hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu came as a shock to all Ghanaians. We have lost an extraordinary public servant and Africa and the international development community has lost a dedicated professional who worked hard for the economic interests of our continent.

As Ghana’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu was a governor of the World Bank and the African Development Bank and in that capacity led Ghana Government’s relationships with these two international institutions. Within the counsels of these institutions, he did not only pursue Ghana’s interest, but was a rallying force for the pursuit of Africa’s agenda.

Beyond this, Baah-Wiredu was from 2005 until his death a co-chair of the Strategic Partnership with Africa (SPA), a role he embraced with enormous enthusiasm and energetic leadership. Established in 1987, SPA is an informal association of donors and African partners that works to improve the quality and increase the quantity of assistance to Africa by encouraging donors to meet the pledges to increase development assistance to Africa and by monitoring their performance in doing so, while ensuring increased alignment of aid to national priorities. As co-chair of the SPA, Baah-Wiredu was an important figure in enhancing Africa’s quest for stronger international partnerships. The drive, commitment and humility with which he performed this role earned him strong admiration across the continent and beyond.

Hon. Baah-Wiredu also contributed enormously to the success of the recently held High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra. Organised by OECD and the World Bank, and hosted by the government of Ghana, the Forum brought together over 2000 delegates made up of ministers, heads of major development agencies and civil society organisations from more than 120 countries to deliberate on enhancing the effectiveness of aid. He was actively involved in the organization of the event and pushed for greater representation of developing countries in the negotiations that produced the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA), an important document which would define the relationship between donor countries and institutions and developing countries for years to come. Clearly the success of the Accra High-Level Forum is a monument to Hon. Baah-Wiredu.

In conversations I have had with several colleagues in the international development community and in written messages from many others over the past week, the late Finance Minister was praised for his wise and quiet approach, his enthusiasm and commitment to getting things done in the right way, his active leadership and vision both in Ghana and on the African and international stages. All express sorrow at the loss of such a “true son of Africa”, whose impact has undoubtedly been felt within the continent and beyond. May his soul rest in peace.