A photograph taken at the signing of the MOU
• The country is getting the loan facility to help in the fight against the pandemic
• The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, says that there is the need to reorient our approaches and share a moral sense of duty to act
• The Country Director of World Bank also stressed the preparedness of the World Bank to support Ghana in the fight against the virus
The battle against the coronavirus still continues and experts say the fight may be far from over.
Today, the country’s active cases is about 2,314 with 143 new cases recorded as of July 12, 2021.
For this reason, the World Bank is giving out a US$200-million-dollar loan facility to the government of Ghana and the Ministry of Health to help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of Ghana and the World Bank, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, said the pandemic has compelled countries and stakeholders like the World Bank to work together in the spirit of shared sacrifice and service.
“The shape and speed of the global recovery will be significantly influenced by our joint determination to forge lasting partnerships between nations, multilateral institutions and the private sector. Undergirded by economies of mutuality, and not power blocks and resource haul from Africa, to create a fairer and more sustainable world, by people, partnerships and the planet being the ultimate beneficiary.”
“To build back better and greener, we must reorient our approach and share a moral sense of duty to act wherever and whenever the pandemic brings about deficient social outcomes, as has been exemplified by our collective show in vaccine inequity,” he said.
He also said the new loan facility is to help is to prevent, detect, and respond to the threat posed by the coronavirus.
“Today, we sign this Financing Agreement worth Two Hundred Million United States Dollars (US$200.00 million) between the Republic of Ghana and the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group, detailed as the Second Additional Financing for the Ghana COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project (COVID-19 AF 2). The objective of the project is to prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19, as well as strengthen national systems for public health preparedness across the country,” he added.