Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, the Senior Minister, has said the drive to move the country beyond aid does not mean Ghana would be refusing to accept development aid.
The government would rather make sure that donor support tied in with development priorities of the nation.
“We will politely decline aid that is not in line with Ghana’s development priorities.”
It should also be consistent with the effort at increasing efficiency and value for money in public sector expenditures.
Mr. Osafo-Maafo said this in an address read for him at the high-level conference on Ghana Beyond Aid in Bolgatanga.
The programme was organized with support from STAR-Ghana, a multi-donor pooled funding mechanism, Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), TAMA Foundation and the Northern Development Authority (NDA).
The two-day conference brought together the academia, Civil Society Organizations, Regional Ministers, Municipal and District Chief Executives, traditional and religious leaders in Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.
Mr. Osafo-Maafo noted that the three regions were a popular destination for aid and direct donor support and said, “While this is welcoming, it is important to take stock and see if we are indeed achieving the expected impact”.
He made reference to dwindling volumes of aid and it was time the nation moved aggressively towards modernizing its agriculture.
The three Northern Regions with their flat arable land offered the country the best area to start the agricultural modernization.
He added that the government was creating the right environment that would both improve conditions for small holder farmers and favour large scale commercial agriculture.
Ghana Beyond Aid was about diversification of the economy with clear shift towards agriculture-led industrialization.
He spoke of the increasing attraction of Ghana to giant global industries including Nissan and Volkswagen (VW) who had signalled readiness to establish assembling plants in the country.
“Government will ensure that Northern Ghana will have its fair share of these emerging opportunities.”
Dr Hakeem Wemah, Board Chairman of the Northern Development Authority and Chairman of the high-Level conference, said the area had been and remained a major beneficiary of development assistance because of the level and depth of poverty.
Grant-aided programs had financed education, health care, agriculture, roads and bridges, nutrition interventions, school feeding and occasionally humanitarian relief when the people were faced disasters like flooding.
“We recall the Upper Region Agricultural Development Programme (URADEP) largely World Bank funded, which was the main driver of agricultural transformation in the 1970s and 1980s in the Upper Regions, Northern Regional Rural Integrated Programme (NORRIP) largely funded by Canada which invested in water resources and social programmes in the Northern Region.
Both died when donor funds ceased. No post-mortem was ever carried out,” Dr Wemah added.
He identified the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as a major investor in agriculture through its Feed the Future Programme and the Millennium Challenge Initiative.
There were also government initiatives that had drawn in the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) which had been making major strides in health, social protection and pro-poor growth.
Source: GNA
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Remove the nuisance taxes, especially in the oil sector
Hi Calistus, to your disappointment, I was rather impressed by the Chinese paying respect to our President by playing the song, they have taken the interest to learn, he likes most. So far it is not only the Chinese Head of State who has paid respect to our President. To date, some most respected world Leaders have visited our President, I deliberately refuse to list them here so that you can do some brain work to reconcile your stance. And mind you, not without cause. I suffice it to say the numerous world acclaimed prestigious Institutions which had invited or given the President the platform to share his thoughts would attest to the point I am making. Thus, our President, within a short time of his presidency, has succeeded to make his mark which is making the positive resonance. I am optimistic and confident that the goodwill of our President will hold up to the task to benefit us all as Ghanaian. I have confidence in his Leadership and the caliber of intelligence he has entrusted with certain key positions, and you would definitely bear with me Mr. Osafo Marfo is one of them because he has a remarkable track record as a Public officer. I guess you would also share with me that in the contemporary world Politics the stress is on how best you use diplomacy to represent your interest to strike a good deal for the common good of your people. And if you listen very well to what Mr. Osafo Marfo is saying, Ghanaians are not doing otherwise likewise Chinese and it's legitimate and is better so, for two sovereign entities each wishing the best for her people. And I believe, it is only fair when at the end of the day we both win. The present Administration is spot on in terms of having the interest of Ghana at heart and a win-win situation is always the best option and shall never elude us because I'm confident in our President and his Administration.
Then check the dtt contract that has been turned into dth.You are selling the media space to the Chinese.It is as if this government thus not understand intelligence.Your president goes to china and they play his song for him ,that is intelligence at work they have studied you and have soften your stance henceforth for the few hours and days they have you ,you will make compromises that you will not have made.They take over our media space they will start selling china to us ,that is soft intelligence over time we will start yearning for everything china.To develop Ghana we already have the media been active ,you support the Ghanaian media to grow any investment stays here.Alumina for 2 billion loan is good.Rail transport loog for Ghanaians to handle Accra tema ,Accra naaam and Accra Kumasi,Accra Takoradi passenger system hand over the cargo sector to the Chinese to defray their cost and hand it over.Our president coming into power don't have a bigger picture at stake,all they have are multi price meal decision .A country cannot be said to be successful if almost every profitable enterprise is owned by a foreigner.The media space radio and tv should be owned and run by Ghanaians.
even if you don't take it you will use oil, gold, bauxite and any other important wealth we have for a tiny sylly loan with unbearable conditions Dollars are just papers printed into cash. Don't give our wealth away because of papers. They just print it and bring it here. We have more than they can ever have. Don't borrow papers f...