Transport infrastructure workshop held

A five-day workshop that dealt with institutional, legal, contractual and financial aspects of infrastructure development in the port, rail and road sectors has been held at Akosombo.

The workshop was organised by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the World Bank and the Agencie Francaise de Developpement (AFD) on good practices on building Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the sector.

The workshop’s objectives were to strengthen the capacity of participants in the areas of identification, preparation, negotiation, implementation, management and monitoring, and evaluation of PPP projects; promote and share experiences and good practices between different sectors and institutions to build capacity and strengthen good governance; as well as encourage the use of international best practices on PPPs that address social and economic concerns of our country.

Deputy Minister of Finance Cassiel Ato Forson stressed the importance of implementing alternative funding solutions such as PPPs.

“We are therefore concentrating on developing our professionals and specialists, who will anchor the programme on foundations of knowledge, experience and skills,” he said.

The workshop was facilitated by international experts and attended by officers and personnel drawn from public and private institutions working on PPPs. Also in attendance were the Deputy Minister of Transport Joyce Bawa Mogtari and Board Chairman of the Ghana Railway Development Authority, Ibrahim Adam.

Currently, projects being undertaken as PPPs in Ghana include the Accra-Takoradi Highway Dualisation, Boankra Inland Port/Eastern Railway Line, Takoradi Port Rehabilitation and Expansion, the establishment of a New National Airline, Diagnostic Services at Korle Bu, Model Markets project, and the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly Community Project.

The World Bank is sponsored the workshop as part of its overall four-year support to the Government of Ghana on PPPs through a US$30million IDA credit to provide legislative, institutional and transactional support aimed at improving government’s capacity to generate a pipeline of bankable projects.

To support both public institutions on one hand and private companies on the other, AFD and its subsidiary in charge of the private sector offers a wide range of financial tools to finance PPPs in Ghana -- from soft loans, equity investments, and technical assistance to grants.