President John Dramani Mahama has directed the management of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) to restructure the Authority to enable it to correspond to the objectives of the Second Compact.
He commended the management of MiDA for the efficient and effective execution of the first compact.
“You have not disappointed the nation. The compact was implemented very efficiently, and enabled us to use the resources for the intended purpose. That is a big achievement,” he stressed.
According to official communication, the President was addressing members of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) board last Friday after receiving the report on the implementation of the first MCA Compact for Ghana.
He further announced that the second compact of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) for Ghana would be signed in August this year.
He was optimistic that with the support from the Second Compact, which is expected to provide about $500 million to Ghana, “we will see some major changes in the energy sector”.
According to him, negotiations between Ghana and the Millennium Challenge Corporation of the United States would soon be completed to pave the way for the signing of the Second Compact, dedicated to support the energy sector.
President Mahama was confident that Ghana would regain its status as a net exporter of power.
“After these successful negotiations, we will be able to sign the compact in August when we go for the US-Africa Leaders Summit in the US during which the signing will be one of the high points,” he said.
President Mahama, after receiving the report, which was presented by Professor Samuel Sefa-Dedeh, the Chairman of the MiDA, said it was important that Ghana prepared adequately to ensure a successful implementation of the Second Compact.
The report provides a comprehensive overview of the implementation of the first $547 million compact which focused on poverty reduction programmes such as agriculture development, transportation, land management and rural development.
Based on the successful implementation of the first five-year MCA programme, which began in 2006, Ghana qualified for a second compact, which has been devoted solely to revamping the energy sector that was identified by the government as the critical sector to push Ghana’s economic drive.
Presenting the report, Prof. Sefa-Dedeh explained that the first Compact represented a refreshingly new strategy for the transformation in the country.
According to him, it targeted sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction among the majority of rural dwellers who relied on agriculture for their livelihood.
He said to realise the programme objectives, the compact involved 12 vital Project Activities designed to work in an integrated and systematic manner to remove risks and impediments in the agribusiness value chain that constrained the efforts of many local farmers.
“This report, therefore, presents the results of the first country-designed and owned MCA Compact Programme. It showcases the necessity for building and effectively using large professional project management skills and capacities, contained within MiDA, in order to meet specific timelines”.
He said the first Compact provided opportunities for trying out and testing a large variety of concepts which could serve as a veritable blueprint for the transformation of Ghana’s agricultural sector.
“The many lessons learnt and recommendations provided in this Report, add a significant body of knowledge to other existing policies and ideas available to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and farmer groups, which aim at enhancing the effective delivery of Ghana’s agricultural produce”, he said.
Prof. Sefah-Dedeh said the report, among other recommendations, suggested that the government provided “post-compact resources to be used in anchoring the achievements of the compact and ensuring the sustainability of the projects handed over”.