The World Bank is committing US$570 million to Ghana to undertake four projects.
US$557 million is in credits and a little over $12 million in grants.
They include the US$200-million Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project which is a multi-sector and transformative urban project aimed at supporting Greater Accra to become a cleaner, safer and more resilient city; and the $150-million Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes project aimed at improving the quality of education in low-performing basic education schools and strengthening equity and accountability of Ghana education sector.
The others are a US$200-million Ghana Economic Transformation Project meant to promote private investment and firm growth in non-resource-based sectors of the Ghanaian economy and the fourth project being additional financing for the Ghana Forest Investment Programme – Enhancing Natural Forest and Agroforest Landscapes Project, which comes with a $12.4-million grant.
According to the World Bank, the projects align well with the government’s priorities for improving the private sector space, enhancing resilience and supporting human capital and ensuring sustainability of its natural resources.
At a signing ceremony with Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta; World Bank Country Director, Pierre Laporte said his outfit is committed to strengthening partnership going forward, adding: “We will work with you hand-in-hand to ensure that these projects, as well as others already ongoing, are implemented timely and effectively.”
This will, in turn, result in efficient use of resources, achieve the projects’ objectives, and most importantly, positively impact the lives of the people, communities and institutions, he emphasised, explaining further that project delays are costly.
“One important aspect of the implementation process is feedback from beneficiaries. Implementing entities, thus, need to ensure there are functional grievance redress mechanisms and strong citizens’ engagement for all projects as they contribute to effective, efficient and sustainable delivery and outcomes”, said Laporte.
Source: Daily Guide
