Ghana and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have formalized the Indicative Operations Programmes, detailing the projects to be executed between 2024 and 2025. These initiatives include support for Small and Medium Enterprises, Agriculture, and Skills Development, with a focus on digitalization, amounting to a US$103 million grant.
Additionally, a five-year country strategy document for 2024-2029 was signed, outlining the sectors and projects that will receive AfDB support.
At the signing ceremony, held during the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the AfDB in Nairobi, Kenya, Ghana’s Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, praised the AfDB for its steadfast commitment to the development of African nations. He emphasized the need for effective monitoring and supervision of projects to ensure value for money and timely disbursement of funds.
Dr. Adam committed to a monthly review of all project loans and funds, stating, “I am committing to set up a monthly review on all project loans and funds that are to be disbursed and the reports will inform us on challenges we face in the execution of these projects. We will then engage the relevant MDAs to see how we can solve the challenges in order for disbursement to quicken up.”
Eyerusalem Fasika, the AfDB Country Manager, signed on behalf of the Bank and highlighted the AfDB’s ongoing support for Ghana through grants under the African Development Fund. She noted the inclusive stakeholder consultations that informed the Country Strategy Document, which involved CSOs, MDAs, the NDPC, private sector representatives, and other institutions. “We needed inclusive and expert views since the Country Strategy Document is the people’s document so their voices had to be captured,” she explained.
Fasika assured the Ghanaian government of the AfDB’s commitment to building on previous achievements, with the new strategy document pending approval by the Bank’s Board of Directors, leading to the release of funds in the third quarter of the year. She stated, “This time around, we will be focused, selective, and will be mobilizing resources from other partners for identified projects, and for the next five years, we will benefit from the African Development Fund resources.”
Fasika also mentioned potential support from the Climate Action Window, the Climate Investment Fund for Transitional Support Facility Prevention Envelope, and other trust funds managed by the AfDB. “We will again work with the Ghana Investment and Infrastructure Fund and the Public Investment and Assets Division of the Ministry of Finance to come out with potential public sector partnership projects that can be presented at African Investment Forums,” she added.
The ceremony was attended by Dr. Alex Ampaabeng, a Deputy Minister for Finance, Ghana’s Ambassador to Kenya H.E. Damptey Bediak Asare, 2nd Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi, and other officials from the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Ghana, and the Ghana Investment and Infrastructure.
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