$300m World Bank financing package secured to permanently end double-track by 2027 – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has announced that Ghana has secured a $300 million financing package from the World Bank to expand infrastructure in senior high schools and facilitate the complete removal of the double-track system by the end of 2027.

President Mahama made the disclosure after a high-level meeting with the Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Makhtar Diop, as part of efforts to strengthen Ghana’s partnership with the World Bank Group.

The discussions included education infrastructure and measures to address the capacity constraints that followed the expansion of secondary education under the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme.

In a social media post on Thursday, September 17, Mr Mahama said the World Bank financing would support the government’s efforts to expand infrastructure and restore a single-track system in senior high schools.

“Through our collaboration with the World Bank, we have secured a $300 million financing package to permanently end the double-track system in Senior High Schools by the end of 2027,” he stated.

The double-track arrangement was introduced to accommodate increased enrolment under the Free SHS programme at a time when existing classroom, dormitory and other facilities were insufficient to accommodate all students simultaneously.

The meeting also covered opportunities to expand commercial agriculture, with particular attention to cocoa, oil palm and poultry production.

President Mahama said the government was also pursuing greater local processing of raw materials as part of its industrialisation agenda, with the objective of generating more sustainable employment opportunities for young people.

He reiterated the government’s policy of processing at least 50% of Ghana’s cocoa, agricultural produce and mineral resources locally.

“Our discussions focused on deepening our strategic partnership to transform Ghana's economy, with a strong emphasis on boosting commercial agriculture production in cocoa, oil palm, and poultry. Reaffirming our commitment to industrialisation, I reiterated our firm policy to process at least 50% of our cocoa, farm produce, and mineral resources to create sustainable jobs for our youth,” he stated.