President lauds Japan�s 16 million dollar support for power generation

President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday commended the Japanese government for proposing to provide a grant aid of $16 million for Ghana to step up the generation of power. He said: �Japan has over the years been a leading donor and we can easily remember the contribution of the Japanese government towards the construction of the Accra- Yamoransa road, the Tamale-Paga road among other development projects in the country. President Mahama gave the commendation when Dr Akihiko Tanaka, President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) led a delegation to pay a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House, Kanda. The delegation also informed President Mahama of some of the agreements they had earlier signed with some of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies. President Mahama expressed happiness that apart from the proposed provision of money for the power sector, the Japanese government had also signed an agreement with government to support the agriculture sector, while another $2million grant aid would also be provided for the health sector. The President said government is building a more robust economy and gave the assurance that Ghana would continue to strengthen cooperation with Japan that would bring substantial mutual benefits. He said Ghana would never go back to the Heavily Indebted and Poor Countries it experienced a decade ago and pledged to work closely with Japan International Cooperation Agency and other development partners to maintain her balance in the coming years. Dr Tanaka explained that the agreement on the proposed $16million power grant would be signed in April, while the disbursement of the funds would be carried out by the end of the year. He said Ghana has the potential in stepping up her agricultural production and food security hence the commitment of his government to provide loans for the country to become food sufficient and self-reliant.