GHANA – The German government has underlined its readiness to stand with Ghana every step of the way to grow its economy and end its over-reliance on development assistance.

To improve the performance of various governmental institutions and provide the necessary financial support, the German Government also revealed that it is providing more than €100 million to the District Assemblies Common Fund for inclusive development.

Germany is also funding the construction of Ghana Audit Service (GAS) offices across the country as well as the establishment of an Information Technology (IT) centre for Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) aimed at better improving their performance in their respective endeavours.

Apart from this, the country is again providing a reform financing support in a form of € 40 million loan to compliment the European Union budget support.

“We consider Germany’s support in governance as comprehensive. Financial and technical support are complimenting each other and they should go hand in hand”, said Ms Dorothee Dinkelaker, the Head of Cooperation at the German Embassy.

She further noted that Germany was well aware of the reforms being undertaken by the Ghanaian Government in the medium term – the “Ghana Beyond Aid” agenda.

Ms Dinkelaker was speaking at a workshop organized jointly by the ‘Government for Inclusive Development’ (GovID), the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) in Accra.

The workshop sought to provide technical advice, training and organizational development measures to national institutions.

The GovID in its quest to improve on efficiency in public financial management, has begun an operational planning workshop to set goals and targets for the 2020 implementation year.

Ms Regina Bauerochse Barbosa, the Country Director of GIZ, Ghana, said the vision of GIZ was to shape a future worth living around the world.

She said, “I know that Ghana is particularly eager to be the frontrunner in achieving the SDGs by 2030 as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the co-chair of the SDG advocates”.

Mr Kwasi Boateng Adjei, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, on his part commended the GovID for organizing the workshop.

He said the implementation of the District Level Revenue Software within the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies for Internally Generated Funds mobilization had begun yielding results for the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

“This is quite commendable as it goes to strengthen our resolve to promoting the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda of government,” he said.

GovID is a module commissioned by the German government with support from Global Affairs Canada and it seeks to support efforts to reform the country’s public financing management for national development.