Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom has been active in Ghana since 1992. The country boasts a prosperous economy and recently held its fifth successful democratic elections in a row. In Ghana, the Foundation mainly focuses on the promotion of a liberal democracy, market economy and the necessary legal framework conditions.

“Ghana boasts a prosperous economy and recently held its fifth successful democratic elections”

The Accra office engages in political consulting and organises conferences, round tables and workshops. These activities may fall under the “Liberal Thursday” or the “Ghana Liberal Dialogue” (GLD) series. “Liberal Thursdays” deal with current topics that can be discussed in brief whereas the GLD events allow topics to be addressed more comprehensively. The outcomes of these events serve as a basis for the FNF’s partners’ advocacy work.

In the political sphere, the Foundation cooperates with a group of young liberal parliamentarians (the so-called G11) from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the NPP Youth Wing (member of the International Federation of Liberal Youth, IFLRY, and the Organisation of African Liberal Youth, OALY). Activities include capacity building and knowledge sharing through training sessions and seminars on liberalism for example, but also targeted consulting and networking.

One of FNF’s longstanding partners is the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD). The cooperation with CDD covers topics such as “Executive discretion and property rights in Ghana: practitioners’ assessment“ and “Enhancing the conflict prevention role of elections in Africa“.

Another recurring topic is “Elections and election observation” (in particular, because FNF supports the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers, CODEO).

With the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), FNF is involved in various publications and lobbying in the sphere of company taxation, for example in the annual forum for financial institutions and private sector stakeholders.

In addition, there is the Ghana Liberal Students’ Association (GHALSA), which benefits mostly from joint training sessions on liberal issues.

Over and above the work done with these partners, the Foundation collaborates with the liberal think tank IMANI (on the issue of property rights for e.g.), the Citizens’ Network for Democracy and Economic Development (CNDED) as well as with the Danquah Institute (for example on biometric voter registration and electronic voting).