Ghana, France sign €1.5m for public sector reforms

Accra, Dec. 11, GNA - Ghana and France on Monday signed a 1.5 million Euro agreement in support of the Public Sector Reform Programmes for the next three years.

The agreement, which spans 2007-2009, would focus on three priority areas of training, human resource management and Subvented Agencies reform. Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, signed for Ghana while Mr Philippe Etienne, Director-General of French Cooperation and Development, initialled for France.

Prof. Gyan-Baffour said the main objective of the French support was to strengthen the capacity of Government for an effective implementation of the Public Sector Reform Programme. Under training, the funds would be used to strengthen the capacity of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, the Government School of Accountancy and support secretarial staff training within the Civil Service.

There would also be strengthening of the statistical capacity of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service, developing a framework of professions, postings and missions in the civil service and to implement provisional human resource management.

Prof. Gyan-Baffour said Subvented Agencies would also be supported to implement the new public management techniques, support for payroll management and financial and accounting management reform. Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Public Sector Reform, said the funds would be used to strengthen internal capacity to enable the Public Service to effectively complement the role of the private sector in economic development.

He said the agreement was an indication of the tireless effort the Government was making to find resources to develop the country. Mr Etienne said training of Civil Servants at the best standards was crucial in the face of competition in the global environment, which required technical decisions and adequate public policies. Besides, the Civil and Public Services must also compete with the private sector to keep the best people and attract the best students. He said it was necessary to offer Civil Servants guarantees about their career by trying to give more to those, who worked more and better as well as give them career opportunities.

Mr Pierre Jacquemot, French Ambassador to Ghana, said this year was a good one for the two countries in Ghana on account of the bilateral cooperation between them.

The French Government has so far committed over 100 million Euros to various projects in the areas of infrastructural, community-based rural development projects and water and sanitation in northern Ghana, among other programmes.