The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has raised questions about the government’s decision to seek a loan from the World Bank, citing concerns about its consistency with the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.
During a discussion about a loan agreement amounting to $710 million, which was eventually approved on May 2 by the parliament, Sam George expressed his confusion over the Finance Committee’s report that suggested the loan was in line with Ghana Beyond Aid.
“I am interested to see how they say that this loan is consistent with Ghana Beyond Aid,” he said. “We are taking a loan from the World Bank as part of Ghana Beyond Aid; I am trying to understand the rationale behind it.”
In addition, Sam George highlighted the need for clarity on a $43 million loan facility that aims to ensure exclusive and safe digital transformation.
“Currently we are all dealing with sim card registration and our bio data being used by people we don’t know,” he said. “We need to know how this $43 million is going to be used to protect the bio-data and strengthen the data protection commission.”
The parliament had been summoned from its Easter break to discuss and approve a total of seven loan agreements, some of which had been outstanding since last year. These included a $60.6 million loan for the Ghana COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project, $150 million to finance the West Africa Food Systems Resilience Programme, and €170 million for the establishment of the Development Bank of Ghana.
The remaining loans were a $30 million facility to finance the Medical Equipment Provision Project in response to Covid-19, $150 million to finance the Primary Healthcare Investment Project, $150 million to finance the Public Financial Management for Service Delivery Programme, and $200 million to finance the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project.
