Government to set up fund to manage oil revenue
From Benjamin Mensah, GNA Special
Correspondent, Washington DC
Washington DC, Sept 30, GNA - Government is to set up a
Growth Fund to manage oil revenue to ensure that the oil
find makes a positive impact on Ghanaians and bring about a
better standard of living.
President John Atta Mills said this when he met World Bank
President Robert Zoellick at the bank’s headquarters in
Washington DC on Tuesday.
Briefing journalists after the meeting Minister of Finance
and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, said the World
Bank President expressed admiration for the economic reforms
that government had pursued to tighten up and stabilize the
economy.
Their discussions centred on agriculture, infrastructure,
gas and oil and the utilization of the oil funds.
The Bank pledged its support to the private sector through
the International Finance Corporation.
President Mills said government was committed to creating
jobs and deliver on its message to improve the living
standards of Ghanaians and to ensure a better Ghana.
At a meeting with Mr Darius Mans, Acting Chief Executive of
the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), issues relating
to the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) were discussed.
The meeting took stock of the challenges government had been
facing with the implementation of the compact and the
success chalked so far.
While expressing his admiration for the success so far
chalked and the implementation of the compact out of which
Ghana had achieved half of all the 19 programmes, Mr Mans
assured Ghana of the corporation’s readiness to assist
government to implement the programme successfully.
Mr. Mans said a second programme would be launched and Ghana
would be one of the first to be considered due to its
outstanding performance.
He said out of the 300,000 contracts awarded, 90 per cent
had been awarded to Ghanaian contractors but the difficulty
these local contractors faced was the size of their firms
and their capacity to successfully implement the contract.
Mr. Mans suggested merging of such Ghanaian firms with other
local firms or even enter into partnerships with
international firms.
President Mills and Mr Mans discussed the options available
for the contribution of extra $40 million to finance the gap
for resettlement programmes and provision of utilities that
had caused some delay in the full implementation of the
first phase of the compact.
President Mills said despite the challenges, government was
ready to fully cooperate with the corporation.
Dr. Duffuor raised concerns about the exclusion of Ghanaian
contractors from the programme, especially for projects in
the Afram Plains.
He said government would be grateful if Ghanaian contractors
were considered and allowed to partner foreign firms to
undertake some of the contracts.
Ms. Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry, said
government appreciated the work done in the pineapple sector
and that the programme had not only built capacity but also
improved the living standards of the small scale farmers in
that sector.
The President also met Mr Steven Hayes, President of the
Corporate Council on Africa, ahead of the Seventh Biennial
US Africa Business Summit in Washington DC.
The three-day Summit would provide comprehensive information
on the latest trade and investment opportunities across
Africa’s most promising sectors including agribusiness,
natural resources development, financing, health,
infrastructure and tourism.
GNA
