Japan to Assist Ghana With $80 Million Grant

An agreement for an 80-million-dollar grant from the Japanese government to Ghana is expected to be signed in Tokyo during President John Agyekum Kufuor's State visit to Japan next week.

Mr Kwabena Agyapong, Government's Spokesman, who disclosed this when briefing newsmen on President Kufuor's visits to Japan and China in Accra on Wednesday said the grant, would be used for the rehabilitation of the Accra-Cape Coast road.

President Kufuor is expected to leave Accra today and return on Monday, November 4.

Mr Agyapong said President Kufuor's visit to Japan is of crucial importance because in recent years, Japan has steadily overtaken all donors as the leading contributor of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to Ghana.

He said Japan's economic aid to Ghana as at now amounts to about 75 million dollars and under Japan's New Development Strategy (NDS), Ghana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Cambodia and Peru are considered priority targets of assistance.

Japan recently took a historic decision to convert Ghana's commercial loans to grants, something that has never happened in Japanese foreign relations.

This was in spite of her decision to discontinue extending commercial loans to Ghana due to the adoption of the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative.

Mr Agyapong said in Japan, President Kufuor would hold talks on bilateral relations and international issues and visit the Noguchi Memorial Centre.

He said in China, issues to be discussed would relate to telecommunications, infrastructure development, expansion of Ghana's rail network and funding of the construction of new sports stadia in Tamale, Koforidua and Sekondi-Takoradi.

The delegation would also visit some small and medium-scale industries on bamboo and rattan processing factory and explore areas of potential Chinese technical assistance to Ghanaian entrepreneurs.