New EU support used for governance and transport
A continued focus on budget support, governance and etablishing Ghana as a transport hub are all prominent under the six-year €367M 10th European Development Fund spending package drawn up between the EU and the government of Ghana (2008-2013).
Accra beach.
© Igino Schraffl
A €175M sum is earmarked for General Budget Support. The EU is one of several donors which are channelling development funds directly into the government’s budget to aid, for example, economic reforms and private sector development.
Since 2003, donors providing this sort of aid have come together in a Multi-Donor Budget Support (MDBS) forum.They currently number ten: the EU, France, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank. MDBS parties regularly monitor budget aid and discuss benchmarks for funding eligibility by measuring aspects such as the government’s progress in applying stability-oriented macroeconomic policies, public finance reform and meeting poverty reduction targets. The EU is expected to provide two separate budget aid programmes under the 10th EDF, each of three years' duration.
Governance
The €95M sum earmarked for governance will help move decentralisation forward. Funds to this area will in part be budget support and part project aid, indicate European Commission officials, financing projects such as feeder roads, water and sanitation installations.This funding will tie in with the 2000 microprojects mounted under previous EDFs, mainly in education, health and water. A recent evaluation found that the involvement of District Assemblies was crucial to the success of such projects.
Monies set aside for governance will be used to strengthen civil society (€8M) and non-executive governance institutions (€4M) so they can both engage in dialogue with local government and act as a watchdog. The funding under the 10th EDF will especially target grassroots and rural organisations. Funding might also eventually go to non-executive governance institutions, such as the Ghana Audit Service, to help strengthen its links with parliament.
Transport
A €76M sum is set aside for transport. The transport sector is seen as key to poverty reduction. The EU has given its backing to the drafting of a National Transport Integration Plan covering ports, harbours, railways and roads. With a new focus on regional integration, the 10th EDF will look at upgrading and construction of trunk roads to boost Ghana as a regional transport hub. The rehabilitation of trunk roads in Western Ghana is targeted, but new construction here will only be carried out following social and environmental evaluation. If there is insufficient evidence of the benefits, then attention may be turned to other trunk roads such as the continuation of the Eastern corridor, indicate EU officials.
Trade and conservation
Of the €21M remaining, a €9M sum is expected to go to trade facilitation, Ghana having recently initialled an interim partnership agreement with the EU. Funds are expected to help the country be more competitive in non-traditional exports and might also be channelled to improve customs documentation
€8M of the remaining sum is earmarked for natural resource management, including the strengthening of key regulatory bodies involved in natural resource management and also for backing of the EU’s Forestry Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) scheme to curtail illegal logging.
And €2M of the total budget is earmarked for migration, the diaspora and security.
One such project, indicate EU officials, could be the compilation of a directory of Ghanaian professionals, posting details of their respective businesses with easy-access email addresses. Technical assistance for improving the capacity of the police and migration agencies in law enforcement is also earmarked.
Five per cent of Ghana’s population is part of the diaspora, with an estimated one million Ghanaians residing in Africa (cited in Twum Baah 2005) and 189,461 in the migration database of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, not including Germany. Other studies suggest there are 600,000 Ghanaians living in the UK and the European Union alone.
The diaspora is also a substantial foreign exchange earner through both remittances to Ghana and tourism. Many Ghanaians are highly skilled and work in the health sector overseas. Construction in Ghana is a leading growth sector and is partly financed by remittances. The law has recently changed to allow double nationality for Ghanaians and extend voting to Ghanaians living abroad. In 2006, a Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations was also created. There is also a further two million for a technical cooperation facility.
In addition to the focal package known as the ‘A’ package, a further €6.6M for the first two years of the 10th EDF are budgeted in a ‘B’ package covering unforeseen needs such as emergency assistance, internationally-agreed debt relief initiatives and support to mitigate adverse effects of instability in export earnings. As part of the West African regional organisation, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Ghana will also benefit from the EU’s 10th regional indicative programme for the West African region and is eligible for further financing both under the EU’s Energy and Water facilities and the EU-Africa partnership on infrastructure.
Ghana in figures*
Land area: 92,100 sq. miles
Independence: 6 March 1957
President: John Agyekum Kufuor (New Patriotic Party)
Population: 23.1million
Main exports: cocoa, gold, timber, bauxite, aluminium, manganese ore
Main imports: foodstuffs, fuel, capital goods
Value of exports: US $4 bn
Value of imports: US $8 bn (2007)
Life expectancy at birth in years: 59.7
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births): 76
GNI: US $12.8 bn
GNI: per capita US $510
UNDP index: 135 out of 177 (2007-2008 United Nations Human Development Report)
National legislature: 230 members elected by universal suffrage every 4 years. Next Presidential and Parliamentary election due in December 2008
Main political parties: New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), People’s National Convention (PNC), Convention People’s Party (CPP), United Ghana Movement (UGM) and National Reform Party (NRP).
Sources: Government of Ghana, European Commission, World Bank, UNDP, CIA
* Statistics for 2006 unless otherwise stated
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New EU support used for governance and transport
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