Ghana, IDA sign 700 billion cedi Agreement

Accra, March 16, GNA - Ghana on Tuesday signed 702 billion cedis (78 million dollar) Development Credit Agreement for the Education Sector Project with the International Development Association of the World Bank in Accra.

Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, signed for Ghana while Mr Mats Karlsson, Country Director of the World Bank, signed for the World the World Bank Group. The loan would be used to revamp the country's educational sector. Ghana Government is to support the Project with a 10 million dollar component.

Fifty per cent of the loan would be used under the Specific Investment Loan (SIL) for general education with the remaining 50 per cent going to the tertiary education. The money would basically go to the University of Development Studies and the Polytechnics. The overall development objective of the Education Sector Project is to promote equitable access to, and efficient delivery of quality services in pre-tertiary education and to foster innovation and relevance in tertiary education.

Signing the agreement, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said the repayment period of 30 years with 10 years moratorium was very significant. It has a commitment fee of a half per cent per annum.

He said the Project had three main components - capacity building and management; pilot programmatic scheme and development and innovation in tertiary education.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said the Government was determined to pay greater attention to the educational sector, especially at the tertiary level. "This is because a nation's most treasured resource is its human resource at the tertiary level," he stressed.

He thanked the World Bank for its continued support in changing the face of education in the country, saying the money would help put Ghana onto the map of nation's with the right calibre of educated and skilled workforce.

Mr Karlsson said the Project was significant in that it would be comprehensive and well programmed.

"Secondly it focuses on quality, which invariably puts Ghana ahead of many nation's who are getting more children into school." He promised to closely monitor the Project to make it achieve its desired target.