THE Government of the Federal Republic of Germany has committed to invest about €82 million in grants into critical sectors of the Ghanaian economy next year.
The German government made the commitment in Berlin last week after the end of bilateral negotiations on development cooperation between the two countries.
The grants are to be channeled into renewable energy development, financial sector strengthening, education and skills development, including technical, vocational education and training (TVET), digital transformation, governance, food security, female empowerment, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) support.
A statement from the negotiations were hosted by the Ministry of Finance said the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) with the support of allied agencies such as the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) and KFW Development Bank.
New grants
The statement said Ghana’s delegation for the two-day negotiations that opened on November 28, was led by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
It added that the next inter-governmental negotiations would take place in Accra in June 2023.
At the negotiations, the Government of Germany made new and additional grant commitments of €82 million towards critical sectors of Ghana’s economy including renewable energy development, financial sector strengthening, education and skills development (TVET), digital transformation, governance, food security, female empowerment, and MSME support.
It said Ofori-Atta commended the Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Dr Bärbel Kofler, for the smooth discussions.
He also described the grants as timely, given Ghana’s ongoing negotiations with the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF).
DBG
He also commended the German government for supporting the establishment of the Development Bank Ghana (DBG).
The support given us to set up what will be a real game changer in Ghana’s financial architecture, the DBG, is very commendable,” the minister said, adding that the DBG has been positioned to play a countercyclical role in ensuring access to long term and affordable capital in challenging economic times, similar to what Germany’s KFW’s role was during the post war reconstruction of Germany.
He also assured that the DBG would adhere to the highest corporate governance principles in order to ensure optimum shareholder value.
Privilege partner
Speaking on behalf of Dr Kofler, the Director for Africa at BMZ Christoph Rauf, revealed that Ghana would continue to enjoy a “privilege partner” status with Germany, culminating in the development of a special partnership arrangement with Ghana.
He also stated that Germany was committed to supporting Ghana’s arrangements with the IMF.
Delegation
The statement said accompanying the Minister of Finance were the Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Osei Bonsu Amoah, the Deputy Minister of Energy, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, the Deputy Minister of Education, Gifty Twum Ampofo, and Ghana’s Ambassador to Germany, Gina Ama Blay.
