EU assists Ghana with 38.4 million Euro

The European Union (EU) has allocated 38.4 million Euro to Ghana under its 2001 assistance programme for Africa, officials said on Friday.

EU has also agreed to make available eight million Euro it withheld out of last year's allotment to Ghana because the country could not meet specific terms and conditions covering the facility.

Finance Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo told journalists after a closed-door meeting between President John Agyekum Kufuor and EU director for West and Central Africa, Friedrich Hamburger, that EU has also agreed to finance the rehabilitation of major roads linking neighbouring states.

Mr Osafo-Maafo who described the discussions as "fruitful and very encouraging" said the EU has responded favourably to an appeal by government for a special package to alleviate poverty and create jobs. He said details of the package would be presented to an EU delegation due in Accra in April.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said Mr Hamburger made a special appeal to President Kufuor to play a key role in promoting peace in the sub-region.

"It was stressed that we should be a stabiliser in the region since there can be no economic development without stability," he added.

The President also received a delegation of Westel Communications, a subsidiary of Western Wireless International, led by Mr Brad Hortwitz, president.

The delegation called at the State House to discuss what it termed frustrations of the company with the view to resolving the bottlenecks. Westel is owned partly by Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, which holds a little over 33 per cent.