The World Bank has approved a US$200million facility to promote private investment and firm growth in the non-resource-based sectors of Ghana’s economy.
The US$200million funded project from the International Development Association (IDA) was approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors.
The GETP will support improvements in the business environment and build capacity for investment attraction and retention, as well as spatial development such as Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to address constraints in accessing industrial land. The project will also support entrepreneurship and SME growth by strengthening the entrepreneurship support ecosystem, and it will include early-stage financing for growth-oriented entrepreneurs.
“Ghana needs to invest more, diversify, and increase productivity if it is to achieve government’s current strategy of transforming the economy through higher, inclusive and sustainable growth with the private sector as the main driver,” said Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
“This operation directly aligns with government’s strategy and with the World Bank’s Africa regional strategy, which lays out economic transformation as a mechanism to create sustainable and inclusive growth.”
Ghana is to transform and diversify its economy by promoting private investment and firm growth in the non-resource-based sectors, through an integrated programme to build the country’s competitiveness and deliver sustainable jobs under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP).
The GETP will support government’s strategy of transforming the Ghanaian economy to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth, with the private sector as the main driver for building the most business-friendly economy in Africa and fostering the competitiveness of Ghanaian firms.
“This project applies the World Bank Group Maximising Finance for Development approach by maximising the government of Ghana’s resources, and will help ensure that IDA funding leverages and attracts complementary private financing,” said Douglas Pearce, Practice Manager Finance Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice.
The interventions under the project are complementary to initiatives of other development partners focusing on the investment climate, skills development, industrial parks, access to finance, agricultural value chains and climate innovation. The interventions under this project will contribute to the World Bank Group’s twin goals by supporting opportunities for business growth and job creation in non-resource-based sectors.
“This is an ambitious private sector project that requires a high level of coordination and ownership to ensure successful implementation,” explained Errol Graham, Programme Leader EFI.
Source: B&FT Online
