General News of Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Source: reuters.com

$15 bln needed over 10 years to close infrastructure gap

Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, Ghana Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, Ghana Vice President

Ghana requires some $15 billion over the next decade to plug a gap in its infrastructure, Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur said on Tuesday, after flooding in Accra last week exposed problems with creaking public services.

"It is estimated that to address our infrastructure deficit, we require about $1.5 billion per annum over the next decade," he told a forum of financial sector operators and private entrepreneurs.

"It is a huge challenge because the public sector budget will not be able to generate the required funds to close that funding gap so we need support from the private sector, hence the government's emphasis on the PPP concept (private-public partnerships)."