Ghana, World Bank sign $157m financing agreements

Accra, July 11, GNA - Ghana and the World Bank on Friday signed four separate financing agreements, totalling 157 million dollars to support the government's development agenda.

The agreements include a 20-million dollar fund for the development of natural resources and environmental governance policy, 25 million dollars for agriculture development, 80 million dollars for west African transport and transit facilitation project and 22 million dollars for community-based rural development.

An additional 10 million dollars would be used for emergency purposes.

Signing the agreement on behalf of government, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said the money for environmental governance would ensure predictability and sustainability of the forest and wildlife sectors, improve mining sector revenue collection and management, and address social issues in forest and mining communities.

It would also support government's efforts to address emerging oil sector issues and adopt enhanced Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) principles. On Agricultural Development Policy Operation (AgDPO), Mr Baah-Wiredu said the funds would support government's efforts to encourage agriculture-led growth to achieve the objectives of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II) through the implementation of Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy. The programme would promote the positive trend of export diversification, encourage non-state actors and private sector to increase investments and address constraints to productivity. The West African Transport and Transit Facilitation Project, according to the Minister, aimed at improving access to Ghanaian ports to landlocked neighbours such as Burkina Faso and Mali to facilitate efficient movement of traffic along the Tema-Ouagadougou- Bamako corridor.

In this direction, the Buipe-Tamale section of the corridor will be rehabilitated and strengthened. In addition, a Satellite Transit Truck Village near the Tema port is to be built to check transit vehicles. The Community Based Rural Development Project sought to strengthen the capacity of rural communities to enhance quality of life by improving their productive assets, rural infrastructure and access to key support services from private and public sources. Ishac Diwan, World Bank country Director, said the agreements fitted into the government development strategy.