'Reliance on foreign financing affecting stability of projects' - PPP Unit Head

Although partnerships remain crucial and play a major role in financing the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), heavy dependence on foreign financing or foreign partners affects the stability of projects in the country, Head of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Unit at the Ministry of Finance, Irene Addo Dankwah, has said.

According to her, the local investor community lacks the capacity to fund most of the projects the government is implementing, hence, the need to fall back on foreign countries or foreign partners. She, however, noted that this affects the stability of projects due to unstable exchange rate.

Ms. Dankwah made this known while responding to how the country can increase finance in implementing the SDGs during a roundtable dialogue organised by the Young Diplomats of Ghana (YDG) themed ‘Financing Implementation of SDGs in Ghana: Success, Gaps and Prospects’.

She further lamented that when projects are pegged in dollars and there is a continuous depreciation of the cedi, it makes it difficult to get such projects completed.

“Within the financial sector, we don’t have long-term financing, so all the financing is coming from foreign partners and not local partners; and that’s where the problem is. Immediately we peg a project in dollars and there is depreciation of the cedi, then it means the project is likely not to be stable. Hence, we have to work on getting the local people to finance projects within the country in order to get rid of this exchange rate issue,” she said.

In addressing the concerns of the private sector, the Senior Planning Analyst at the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Patience Amponsah, urged the sector to collaborate more at the local level by integrating their support into the medium-term plans of local government agencies.

She added that many activities are being done to assist the country in achieving the SDGs, yet a lot is going down the drain due to the country’s inability to measure the efforts of the private sector.

“Besides going in a survey direction in quantifying your efforts, you can also collaborate more at the local level. Look at the district’s plan, make an input, and undertake activities that match the medium-term plan. Doing this will help you know what you have to implement and that would help in quantifying your efforts,” she advised.

Assessing the performance of the country in achieving the SDGs, representatives from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Global Impact expressed opposite views. While the former believes the country is on the right trajectory, the latter says the country is not on track, citing challenges with decent work and economic development, gender equality and climate change, among others.

With regards to financing, SDGs Financing Officer at UNDP, Huzif Musah, suggested the need to move beyond traditional financing and start thinking of diaspora financing, which he described as one of the largest inflows in the country.

YDG is a non-governmental and non-profit network advancing the development of a new generation of aspiring leaders in diplomacy, international development and policy advocacy in the country.