The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group and Ghana’s Ministry of Finance have launched a $7.4 million institutional support project to strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation.
This follows the signing of grant and loan agreements and the first disbursement of project funds. It will facilitate prudent debt management, deepen financial sector reforms and support capital market development.
Specifically, the funds will provide technical assistance and capacity building to improve efficiency in non-tax revenue collection and bolster debt and cash management reforms.
The project complements current efforts to strengthen domestic resource mobilisation in Ghana, following the challenges in revenue mobilisation due to supply disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project
At the project launch, Manager at the Resource Mobilisation and Economic Relations Division of the Finance Ministry, Emmanuel Fordjour, thanked the AfDB for supporting the government.
He also expressed the Ministry of Finance’s commitment to accelerating the project’s implementation.
AfDB Country Manager for Ghana, Eyerusalem Fasika, underscored the need for the project to Ghana’s medium-term development objectives and the Finance Ministry’s 2018-2021 strategic plan.
According to him, the project aligns with the bank’s Country Strategy Paper (2019-2023) as it provides the foundation for additional fiscal space to support investments in infrastructure to bolster industrialisation, job creation and spur private sector activity and regional integration.
The project will help the country return to prudent debt levels through improved debt management capacity and a sustainable cash flow to smooth public spending.
The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, commended the bank for supporting Ghana’s transition to risk-based supervision for its capital markets and the automation of a regulatory compliance monitoring system for the Commission.
Financial hub
The project will support the country to transition from aid dependency to prosperity and self-reliance.
The bank also welcomes the country’s ambition to become a regional financial services hub, hence the project is expected to support the establishment of an international financial services center in Accra.
