Ghana�s Economy Described As A Success Story

The Head of the European Delegation, Mr Claude Maerten, has described the economy of Ghana as a success story, considering the current global trends. He said reports of volumes of direct foreign investments into the country, the recent high prices of gold and cocoa on the international market and the recent oil discovery in the country were indictors of the laudable performance of the economy. Mr Maerten noted, however, that the current achievements could not sustain long-term economic growth and that there was the need for the development of the private sector to be the engine of growth for the economy to support the gains made. He was speaking at the signing of a 3 million Euro European Union (EU) support to the Danish International Development Cooperation (DANIDA) to support the advocacy project for small and medium scale private businesses in Ghana through the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund Phase two in Accra on Wednesday. The signing of the agreement was in line with the aid effectiveness programme under which the country�s development partners pooled their resources for one of them to lead in the implementation of the programme. Under the BUSAC Phase II project, DANIDA which had already committed 8 million dollars to the project is the leading organization, with the United States Development Agency (USAID) which recently contributed 3 million dollars to the project being a co-donor. Mr Joe Tackie of the Ministry of Trade and Industry said the Government would soon inaugurate the Private Sector Development (PSD) Council and Board to enhance the development of the sector and the industrialization of the country.