The European Union (EU) has provided GHC 1.6 million (€100,000) in humanitarian funding to support communities affected by the ongoing cholera outbreak. The outbreak, which began in October 2024, has spread to 36 districts across five regions—Greater Accra, Central, Western, Eastern, and Ashanti.

In a press release, the EU stated that its financial assistance would support the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) in delivering critical relief interventions, including chlorine for disinfection, handwashing devices, and public health education.

The Ghana Health Service reported 4,850 suspected cases and 35 deaths by the end of December, despite ongoing vaccination efforts to curb the spread of the disease. The outbreak has been attributed to poor hygiene practices, inadequate sanitation, and heavy rains exacerbating drainage issues.

The relief efforts would, therefore, prioritise high-risk areas such as displacement camps and informal settlements on the urban periphery, the release said.

According to the EU, the funding is expected to benefit 150,000 individuals who are at high risk of cholera transmission due to inadequate access to clean water and sanitation facilities.

The Ghana Red Cross has been at the forefront of the response, providing sanitation resources and engaging communities to curb the outbreak’s spread. The support forms part of the EU’s broader contribution to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The EU has a €14.5 million humanitarian delegation agreement with the IFRC to replenish the DREF for small-scale disasters that do not trigger a formal international appeal. The EU and its members are the world’s leading providers of humanitarian aid, according to the release.

It works through its Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department to assist millions of victims of conflict and natural disasters. With headquarters in Brussels, and a global network of field officers, the EU provides emergency relief based on humanitarian needs.

In addition to its humanitarian aid, the EU contributes €40 million towards the development of Ghana’s vaccine manufacturing capability under the Global Gateway flagship initiative.

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SOURCE: GNA

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Dean of University of Cape Coast Business School, Professor John Gatsi

The government has been advised to urgently explore other diplomatic sources of financing apart from the United States and draw some money from the Ghana Stabilisation Fund (GSF).

This is to help reduce the burden particularly on Ghana’s health sector, which has suffered a US$78.2 million out of a total of US$156m funding gap created by the withdrawal of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) support.

Professor John Gatsi, the Dean of University of Cape Coast Business School, said this in an exclusive interview with the Ghana News Agency.

This comes on the back of President John Dramani Mahama’s directive to the Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, to take immediate actions to close the funding gap.

He said the situation called for “critical thinking into exploring all avenues of financing the needs of our people. The first thing that should be happening now is to broaden our scope of engagement within the diplomatic communities.”

“The Government must scale-up what we get from Norway, UK, and other countries, and even countries that have not been supporting us. This is the time to be aggressive in contacting them to see how they can scale up their support to Ghana,” Prof Gatsi said.

He called for a strategic collaboration between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in achieving that goal.

A leaked memo in the international cycles has indicated a restoration of USAID support to some “strategic countries,” but it remains unknown if Ghana is part of those.

Prof Gatsi said while the country waited to get more details on the “strategic countries,” it could draw some money from the Ghana Stabilisation Fund, which receives 30 percent of the country’s petroleum revenue.

The Reconciliation Report on the Petroleum Holding Fund presented to Parliament by the Finance Ministry showed that at the end of 2023, the closing balance of the Fund was US$190.38 million.

“The Stabilisation Fund under the Petroleum Revenue Management tells us that we can take some money from that Fund to support the economy in terms of acute difficulty. So, we should be targeting to get some money to support the economy regarding this shortfall,” he said.

 The World Bank has entreated the government to maintain momentum and stay on course with ongoing fiscal reforms to build a strong and resilient economy.

He was speaking during the launch of the World Bank’s latest and flagship report titled Ghana Public Finance Review “Building the Foundations for a Resil­ient and Equitable Fiscal Policy.”

Mr Taliercio in his remarks said the risk facing Ghana now was complacency with the achievements it had made under the International Monetary Fund pro­gramme and the country’s debt restructuring exercise, and “returning to a business-as-usual mindset – a recur­ring error in the past.”

“Not fully completing the adjustment programmes – reducing debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio to 55 per cent by 2028- could jeopardise the credibility of policy reforms and the fundamentals for long-term growth,” Dr Taliercio said.

The World Bank Country Director cautioned that a premature return to the international capital market could send the wrong signal to markets and a reversal to unsustainable borrowing costs.

Mr Taliercio said there was the need for the govern­ment to “strengthen fiscal discipline” to ensure effective expenditure management and control, indicating that the government expenditure grew faster than GDP between 2010-2020 and about 70 per cent of this was dedicated to public wages, interest payments, and ear­marked statutory funds.

The World Bank Country Director also emphasised the need to boost domestic revenue collection to en­large fiscal space.

He said the share of revenue to GDP fell to 13 per cent by 2021, below comparator countries.

To enhance domestic revenue mobilisation, Mr Taliercio said the government must ensure tax compli­ance, broaden the tax net.

He said the tax exemptions on Value Added Tax, Per­sonal Income Tax and import duties must be critically looked at, saying these tax handles “cost about 3.9 per cent of GDP in lost revenue.”

Mr Taliercio said the government must prioritise investments in infrastructure, Information Commu­nication Technology, research and development and technological innovation.

“Using fiscal policy to support innovative financing mechanisms for a climate-resilient and low-carbon economy through climate-smart agriculture, integrated water and forest management, resilient cities and infra­structure, and a clean energy transition,” he stated.

Touching on the importance of the report, the World Bank Country Director said it explored the critical role of effective fiscal policies and public financial manage­ment in achieving sustainable and equitable economic growth.

“It offers an in-depth look at the efficiency, equi­ty, and impact of public revenue and expenditure in Ghana, aiming to inform the country’s fiscal consolida­tion efforts as it recovers from overlapping crises,” Mr Taliercio stated.

He said the World Bank would support the govern­ment’s “reset” agenda towards economic transformation and fiscal sustainability, a cornerstone for sustainable growth.

The Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, in a speech read on his behalf, said the Ghana Pub­lic Finance Review came at a pivotal moment with a transition in government when the government sought to implement far-reaching reforms to strengthen public financial management, improve expenditure efficiency and boost domestic revenue mobilisation.

He said strengthening fiscal discipline, enhancing domestic revenue mobilisation, and addressing fiscal liabilities from State-Owned Enterprises especially in the energy sector were critical to ensuring sustainable economy growth.

He said the government would enhance tax adminis­tration by restructuring the Ghana Revenue Authority, operationalise the Independent Tax Appeals Board and enact a Natural Resources Revenue Management Act.

“We will also diversify funding options through initiatives like Diaspora Bonds and seek membership in the Islamic Development Bank to broaden development financing opportunities,” Dr Forson stated.

He said the Ghana Public Finance Review report provided valuable insights and recommendations that would guide the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts.

The Government Statistician, Professor Samuel K. Annim, lauded the World Bank for the report and stressed the need for all stakeholders to actively engage with government financial statistics.

 BY KINGSLEY ASARE