MCA is a grant - Official

Hohoe (V/R), July 17, GNA - Mr Rodney Bent, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), on Sunday said the 547.9 million dollars from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) was not a loan to Ghana, but a grant aimed at reducing poverty through growth.

Addressing members of the Hohoe District Assembly as part of a tour to familiarise himself with projects to benefit from the MCA, Mr Bent said the amount was to be dispensed over a five-year period. He urged the 23 districts and other stakeholders to be ready with their proposals to the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), the implementation arm of the MCA.

Among those present were Mr John Peter Amewu, Hohoe District Chief Executive, Mr Bob Goldberg, Office of Management and Budget, US State Department; Mr Jonathan Blom, Managing Director, MCC; Robert Hindle, Country Director of MCC and Mr Matthew Armah, Project Coordinator MCA, Ghana.

Mr Bent, who is on an African tour, visited the Akosombo Dam and a number of vegetable farms in the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District of the Central Region and the Hohoe District in the Volta Region. The Deputy CEO of the MCC said the Compact, a document stating the exact means by which Ghana intended to spend the amount, would be signed next month.

He said the document was important for Ghana in that, it benefited "people who truly understand how to position themselves adequately to take part in the value chain that the project intends to achieve". During the interactive session Members of the Assembly were told that the MCA would not be shared to the 23 districts equally, but would be need-driven based on their application.

The MCA programme is an integrated agriculture programme covering the development of the transport sector and rural development to be carried out in some districts.

Mr Bent said Ghana, however, had to wait for the signing of the Compact, hire people to manage the MiDA and work on the outflow of proposals for accessing the funds from the stakeholders. He said Ghana was on the threshold of making a significant turnaround after accessing the MCA.

Mr Armaah explained that district assemblies and private operators, who applied for the MCA, must execute their projects within the five-year period.

"If any amount is not utilized within the five-year period, the money goes back to the US government.

"The MCA funds will not require security. What is necessary is to have a convincing application with the potential of showing that it could reduce poverty, create jobs and bring about growth of the economies of their immediate surroundings," Mr Armah said. "We would lend against cash flow."

Mr Amewu said the Hohoe District was far advanced in putting together its proposal for the MCA and expressed the hope that the signing would take place to initiate the process of growth to reduce poverty. 17 July 06