Ghana is one of the three countries in Africa to benefit from Germany's 'Compact with Africa' Programme.
The programme will assist Ghana improve conditions for sustainable private sector investment, infrastructure, economic participation, and generate employment in the country.
This was made known by the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, at a meeting with the Ghanaian community resident in Germany, held in honour of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in Berlin.
Addressing the meeting, the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, explained that the Compact with Africa Programme, initially, had Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Tunisia, Morocco and Rwanda, as countries that had been signed onto the Compact.
Only three countries out of the five, he said, were to be beneficiaries of €100 million that came along with signing the Compact. However, Ghana was chosen as one of the countries signed onto the Compact.
The Finance Minister, attributed this to the leadership of President Akufo Addo He said “Ghana is back, we were no where near it (Compact with Africa Programme); but the work President Akufo Addo has been doing has resulted in the Germans saying, 'why don't we get Ghana involved in this?' And, that is why we are here”.
Ken Ofori-Atta noted that this development “was a real sign of confidence in Ghana”. We thought that it was over. Then they (Germans) came back a couple of weeks later, in March 2017, and said that 'we should put our money where our mouth is. So let us select three countries in Africa where we can have a bilateral relationship with, and they selected two of the countries who were already in the Compact - Tunisia and Cote d'Ivoire - and they said Ghana be part of it, that is the third country''.
He continued, 'They also said here is another 100 million Euros, do something with it. So you are beginning to see the response the world is having. We are beginning to see a sense of a re-generation; the Black Star is shining again. We certainly are not a poor country, as President Akufo Addo said. We are also not chickens, as Aggrey said, we are eagles and, as such, we should fly”.
G20 Compact with Africa, an initiative led by G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Presidents, is designed to make African countries more appealing to investors primarily through regulatory and fiscal policies, thus promoting infrastructure and economic development. A first step is currently being taken with five pilot countries: Senegal, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Rwanda and Tunisia. END