German govt commits €50m into projects in Ghana

Kumasi, Nov 14, GNA- Germany has committed about 50 million Euros in support of bilateral project in the framework of financial and technical co-operation in Ghana for 2003/2004.

Mr Peter Linder, German Ambassador to Ghana who announced this, said, "I had the pleasure to sign the respective bilateral agreement on financial co-operation involving 31 million Euros last week together with the Minister of Finance".

Mr Linder was speaking at the inauguration of new and permanent offices for the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR) in Tropical Medicine on Friday in Kumasi.
Funds for the project, which cost six billion cedis, was mainly borne by Volkswagen Foundation of Germany. The offices comprise of first class laboratories, seminar rooms, teaching facilities and accommodation for visiting scientists.
The KCCR is a collaborative venture between the Ministry of Health, Ghana Government, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Bernhard Notch Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany with Ghanaian and German scientists working together.
The objective of the KCCR is to conduct research into tropical medicine. The Ambassador noted that Germany had also provided both personnel and financing for the establishment of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, adding "we will continue to actively support this project".
He observed that the economic ties between Germany and Ghana, was on the right track as shown by the visit to Ghana of a delegation of German businessmen last February.
Mr Linder said Ghana was one of Germany's main trading partners in the sub-Sahara region since more than 80 German companies are registered in Ghana.
Mr Linder stressed that German policy on Africa is part of global peace policy, saying, "my country does not pursue any power politics in relation to Africa".
"On the contrary, we are doing everything to encourage and support African states efforts to adapt their national economies to the demands of our present day global economy, and to orientate their political systems under rule of law, democracy and good governance", he added.
Professor Frank Obed Kwami, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the KCCR, urged all stakeholders of the Centre to use the facilities and come out with research findings relevant to the local communities.
He said he was hopeful that KCCR would certainly be a centre of excellence for research into tropical medicine not only for Ghana and Africa but the world as a whole.
Dr Thomas F. Kruppa, Director of the KCCR, said although it was their dream to have the whole centre powered by solar energy, this could not be realised but "we have at least hot water throughout the site heated by the sun".
Professor Kwesi Andam, Vice-Chancellor of the KNUST, who chaired the function, paid tribute to the German government and all who contributed in cash and in kind to the establishment of the KCCR.