Field Notes: Insights from On-the-Ground Development Finance Research

PGP team interviews key stakeholders in Accra, Lagos and Abuja, gathering insights on Development Banks. The team gives insights.

The PGP research stay abroad is well underway. Our team, Development Banks, started in Accra, Ghana, in early February. We kicked things off with onboarding and team-building sessions with our partners at the University of Ghana Business School to ensure the whole team was on the same page before the interviews started. After a month of conducting interviews in Accra, we moved to Nigeria, splitting between Lagos and Abuja.

Thus far, we have been able to interview a diverse group of development finance and banking stakeholders in Ghana and Nigeria, collecting rich and insightful information on the Development Bank Ghana and the Development Bank of Nigeria. This process has been a masterclass in field research. We have learned that working with local partners who have established networks and contextual knowledge is essential for accessing stakeholders, navigating local dynamics, and building trust with participants. We have also learned to adapt quickly, as things do not always go as planned in the field; being prepared to adjust interview questions and reschedule at short notice is crucial.

Beyond research, this experience also offers international networking opportunities. For example, we connected with PGP alumni who are working in Ghana and Nigeria and met with private sector actors in Lagos. We are also discovering new places and cultures. In between the interviews and transcriptions, we explored and enjoyed the sights in Accra, Lagos, and Abuja, and sampled the spicy local cuisine – though we will abstain from commenting on the ‘jollof war’ between Ghana and Nigeria.

As the data collection phase nears its end, we now look forward to returning to Ghana to analyze the collected data and prepare and host stakeholder workshops to share the preliminary findings of the research.