AfDB Supports Local Enterprises

Donald Kaberuka - President of AfDB

Donald Kaberuka - President of AfDB The African Development Bank (AfDB) has committed a total of US$1.1 billion in 25 active projects in Ghana, with plans to roll out new projects in the next five years.

The portfolio has about 45 per cent devoted to infrastructure out of which the road sector alone is attracting almost US$500 million.

Some of the notable road projects include the Awoshie Pokuase road, the Nsawam bypass in the Eastern Region; the Akatsi-Aflao and the Akatsi-Akanu roads in the Volta Region; the Techiman-Kintampo road in the Brong Ahafo Region and Fufulso-Sawla raod in the Northern Region.

The Ghana Country Resident Representative of the AfDB, Ms Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, told a section of the media in Accra shortly after a video press conference on the 47th annual reviews of the bank that the AfDB also had portfolios in many other sectors of the Ghanaian economy including the social sectors such as health and education, water and sanitation as well as the private sector.

She disclosed that the Group was currently in the process of finalising a Ghana country strategy for the next five years.

Ms Akin-Olugbade said the strategy which would be expected to end in 2016, would have two pillars, first to help improve productivity in Ghanaian enterprises, especially in micro-, small- and medium-scale agribusinesses, and second to support economic and structural reforms to improve the business environment.

Currently, the bank disburses an average of US$180 million annually into the Ghanaian economy and that could be scaled up once the new country strategy is completed.

As a departure from the past, the bank has subjected the strategy to a wide review by stakeholders such as civil society groups, the private sector, the public sector and the government to ensure that it captured the expectations of the people and reflected their aspirations.

The AfDB resident representative stressed that the Group and the government were both adopting new strategies to ensure that lags in project implementation were closed. The measures include the readiness reviews that the bank conducts to ensure that projects commence only when all ancillary issues such as resettlements and compensations, where necessary, had been dealt with.