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Opinions of Saturday, 26 February 2011

Columnist: Tawiah, Francis

The $10 Billion For The building Of Roads, ....

..... Railways, School And Hospitals. WHEN?


Out of the 13 billion dollars agreed by China to loan Ghana for infrastructure, $10 billion is said to be pumped into the building of roads, railways, school and hospitals in Ghana.

The loan deal, which was subjected to approval and now approved by the Ghanaian lawmakers, points to China's growing interest in the country which is now set to be pumping its barrels of oil since the end of last year from its offshore Jubilee field.

Out of the total loans of $13 billion acquired from the China development Bank, $10 billion is said to be pumped into the building of roads, railways, school and hospitals in Ghana, while the rest three billion dollars will go towards building of oil and gas infrastructure, Ghana's Deputy Finance Minister Fiifi Kwetey said per phone from Beijing.

China, which recently overtook Japan as the world's second-largest economy, has been searching for resources to feed its growing energy needs. "The China-Exim Bank has given Ghana 10 billion dollars for the building of roads, railways, school and hospitals said the Deputy Finance Minister Fiifi Kwetey. The loans are to be staggered over several years and details of repayments will be fine-tuned later.

"It's not a one-off financing, said Fiifi Kwetey, adding the newly discovered oil has been a kind of attractiveness for China to support Ghana. China is clearly showing vast confidence about the potential of the continent,"

Now that the loans are ready, the crude oil is already flowing in the pipelines, oil export is successfully in progress and the President Mills action year (2011) is catching it's third month, WHEN is the $10 billion loan going to find its way to the building of roads, railways, school and hospitals in the country?


FRANCIS TAWIAH (Duisburg - Germany)