Germany to support Ghana's District Assemblies Common Fund

As part of efforts in recognizing the reform-orientation and supporting the financial and technical reforms of government, the Head of Cooperation at the German Embassy says it has contributed over 100 million euros to the District Assemblies Common Fund.

According to Ms. Dorothee Dinkelaker, the German government will soon establish an Information Technology (IT) Centre for the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to aid revenue collection measures and will also fund the construction of Ghana Audit Service (GAS) offices across the country.

“Germany will be providing technical and financial support in the area of governance and apart from the technical support under the GovID program, [Germany] is funding the construction of Ghana Audit Service (GAS) offices across the country and the establishment of an IT centre for the GRA and we are contributing since 2009 overall more than 100 million euros to the District Assemblies Common Fund,” she disclosed.

“Apart from that, Germany will provide support in the form of loans of overall 40 million euros, complementing the Europe Union budget. Hence, we consider Germany’s support in governance as comprehensive with financial and technical support complementing each other,” she said

“We are contributing to the ambitious goal of making Ghana’s economy able to stand on its own two feet and ending the country’s dependence on development assistance in the medium term as it is framed in the vision of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid,” she added.

Ms. Dorothee Dinkelaker said this at the opening ceremony of an operational workshop organized by the GovID in collaboration with the Finance Ministry and Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in Accra, January 21.

Country Director for GIZ Ghana, Ms. Regina Barbosa on her part said the vision of her outfit is corresponding to the goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGD’s) to achieve a better more sustainable future.

In Barbosa’s words, “I know Ghana is particularly eager to be the frontrunner in achieving the SDG’s by 2030 as your President is the co-chair of the SDG advocates.”

Mr Kwasi Adjei-Boateng, Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, in his address noted that fruitful collaborations have been made with the German government in areas such as the district development facility, promotions of district capital projects, support for decentralization programs and revenue enhancement programs.

GovID is a module commissioned by the German government with additional support from Global Affairs Canada to provide technical advice, training and organizational development measures to institutions in efforts to support the country’s public financial management.