Britain to provide Ghana £80m

The British government will this year provide Ghana with £80 million (US$115.5 million) to help boost the nation's economy, in spite of the high level of recession facing the western world.

The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Dr Nicholas Westcott, disclosed this at a forum with the Ghanaian community in London over the weekend.

The forum, organised under the auspices of the British High Commission in Accra, was to create the platform for the High Commissioner to interact and explain some British government policies to the Ghanaians.

Hundreds of Ghanaians residing in Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham; Milton Keynes, Southampton, Leeds and London, among others, attended the three and a half hour meeting.

Dr Westcott noted that the British government would give fiscal cash to the Ghanaian government because the British government had absolute trust in the Ghanaian government, unlike other countries where such aids were provided in other forms.

He said due diligent monitoring systems on the utilisation of aids given to Ghana by the British government half proved very positive.

"Besides this, we shall continue our investment programmes in Ghana in anticipation of helping Ghana's economy grow, You will agree that Ghana's economy is growing while The UK's is shrinking but we need to do these things,", the High Commissioner said.

He announced that his country would invest one billion dollars into the development of the Jubilee Oil Field in Ghana as a means of helping Ghana in its oil prospects.

He said Britain was committed to cementing the already growing bilateral links which had benefited the two countries.

According to him, currently, there were a good number of Ghanaian professionals working in the United Kingdom, a situation he deemed as a "contribution to the economies of the two countries."

In an answer to a question, Dr Westcott admitted that British policy on immigration had always been to benefit the citizenry.

He said much as Britain had opened its doors to other nationals, care was also taken to ensure that the peace and the economy were not jeopardised by the system of allowing entry into the country.

"The citizens of our country need to be assured of the best of security, economy and peace by the government and this we have to do," said the High Commissioner.

He observed that to achieve this, significant reforms had been embarked upon in the acquisition of visas to the UK.

He, therefore, called on Ghanaians residing in the UK who wish to invite their friends and relations to the UK to ensure that they met all requirements before they applied.

The acting Ghana High Commissioner to the UK, Mr Zed Grant-Essilfie, reminded the Ghanaians of their obligation to live decent lives and uphold the name of Ghana.

He called on them to continue to be law-abiding and work hard to support themselves and the economy of Ghana.