Accra, October 31, 2019 - The Government of Ghana, represented by the Minister for Finance has signed an 18 million Swiss Francs grant facility with the Government of Switzerland to support Ghana’s efforts to fight poverty and decentralization.
The grant is to fund the implementation of structural reforms defined in the Medium Term National Development Policy Framework and the National Decentralization Policy Framework and Action Plan for the next three years.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta noted that the support for the implementation of the DACF RFG was based on three components.
These are;
- an assessment with the District Performance Assessment Tool (DPAT),
- an investment grant allocated to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, (MMDAs) against performance in the DPAT assessment; and
- a capacity-building component grant allocated to MMDAs, and grants reserved for the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), the Office of the DACF and the Office of the Head of Local Government Service to implement generic capacity building and to organize the assessment of MMDAs’ performance.
Commending the Government of Switzerland, the Minister revealed that Switzerland has developed the Ghana Country Strategy 2017-2020 document, which is focused on prioritizing and building strong and accountable institutions that will deliver effective public service, improve competitiveness and diversification Ghana’s economy.
“This year alone, the Government of Switzerland has provided Three Million Swiss Francs (CHF 3.0M) to support the Sustainable Recycling Industries (SRI) and National Pensions Regulatory Authority,” Mr. Ofori-Atta added.
The Ambassador of Switzerland to the Republic of Ghana, Togo and Benin, His Excellency Philipp Stalder noted that the Ministry of Finance was key for development cooperation.
He said that the Swiss Government was pleased to support Ghana’s decentralized budget, adding that the grant to the MMDAs spanning from 2019 to 2021 would be based on Assemblies performance assessment.
He appealed to the Government to ensure transparency and efficiency in the use of the grant. This, he stated, was critical to ensure value for money and achieve results.
Ambassador Stalder further commended the Government of Ghana for the good results of funds in the area of education, markets and other on other infrastructure.
The Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama who witnessed the signing ceremony commended the Swiss Government for their continuous support in the area of capacity building, provision of logistics and expressed the hope that such collaborations would continue.
Present at the signing were dignitaries that included Mr. Matthias Feldmann, Deputy Head of Mission, the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund and officials of the Ministry of Finance. END