Ghana to get $25m Indian loan

Pg. 14 (Jan. 09/08)

Story: Charles Benoni Okine
INDIA will release approximately $25 million loan to Ghana this year to support various projects in the country.
The amount constitutes the second tranche of support to Ghana under a special financial arrangement from India dubbed "Team 9", which is meant to support nine African countries including Ghana.
The first tranche of $60 million has already been released, half of which is being used on the Presidential Palace while the remaining amount is being used to support the country's rural electrification project.
The outgoing Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Rajesh Nandan Prasad, made this known when he called on the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, at the Castle, Osu, yesterday and said the projects would be named when the amount finally got to Ghana.
He said "Team 9" was a special fund set up by the Indian government and indicated that Ghana was selected to be part of the team because of the strong relations between the two countries.
On trade, he said exports from Ghana to India had grown by more than 100 per cent.
Mr Prasad said in 2004/2005, total trade between the two counties amounted to $234.36 million out of which Ghanaian exports to India stood at $51.28 million.
In 2006/2007, trade between the two countries shot up to $564 million with exports from Ghana to India reaching $103.21 million.
Mr Prasad said the Indian government was in the process of completing a tractor assembly plant in Kumasi.
He said these were all positive indications of how India cherished Ghana as a partner.
For his part, Alhaji Mahama commended the Indian government for the gesture and expressed the hope that the relationship between the two countries would grow stronger.
He urged the Indian government to support Ghana in the areas of agriculture, railways and Information Communication Technology.
On agriculture, the Vice-President said although India had a very large population, it was able to feed all its people “and we will be glad to learn from that experience”.
Alhaji Mahama said India also had an effective and efficient rail transport system.
“We are also making efforts to revive ours to haul goods and passengers across the length and breadth of the country and we will appreciate your support technically and financially,” he added.
Alhaji Mahama also asked India to play a leading role in enhancing the South/South co-operation, a move he indicated would go a long way to bring significant benefits to members.