The World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved US$125 million from the International Development Association (IDA), as an additional funding for the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA SWP).
This additional financing will support Ghana’s effort to reach 550,000 people in low income urban communities of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) with improved sanitation and water supply services.
This was made known in a press statement issued by the World Bank, dated Tuesday, September 22, 2020.
“Providing equitable access to safe and improved water supply and sanitation services is essential to improve people’s lives particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this project, we are committed to provide better access to water and sanitation to the most vulnerable, therefore improving lives and reducing poverty,” Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Ghana
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Some economic analysts have supported the government’s decision not to impose a second lockdown on Accra and other major cities as part of measures to contain the resurgence in the COVID-19 pandemic.
They maintained that the cost of a lockdown on the public purse and economic activities, when weighed against the fragile nature of the economy, would make the imposition of restrictions injurious.
They told the Daily Graphic in separate interviews yesterday that any imposition of restrictions similar to what happened between March 30 and April 20, last year carried the risk of collapsing the economy through a further slump in financial activities.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been sworn into office for a second term as President of Ghana. In his inaugural speech delivered Thursday in Parliament, President Akufo-Addo gave an indication of what he hopes to achieve over the next four years.
In his address, the President said he hopes to complete some infrastructure projects including the provision of roads within a year while others such as establishing a strong economy did not come with any timelines.
Graphic Online takes a look at six of the promises he made in his inaugural address [Jan 7, 2021].
1. Establishing a strong economy
President Akufo-Addo said establishing a strong economy will be the main preoccupation of his second term.