A Loan Agreement was signed today in Washington D.C., U.S.A., during the 2016 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, between the Republic of Ghana and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, whereby the Fund will provide a Loan in the Amount of 7.0 Million Kuwaiti Dinars (equivalent to about US$23.8 Million), to the Republic of Ghana, to participate in the financing of the Expansion and Development of Existing Senior High Schools Project.

 

The Loan Agreement was signed on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Ghana, by His Excellency Mr. Seth Terkper - Minister of Finance, while the Loan Agreement was signed on behalf of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, by Mr. Hesham Al-Waqayan, Deputy Director-General of the Fund.

 

The Project aims to support the social and economic development of Ghana, by supporting the Government's plans to increase access and improving the quality of Senior Secondary Education and meet the growing demand for student enrollment in underserved areas in Ghana. This will be done through the construction and equipping new buildings and facilities in about (26) existing Senior High Schools (SHS), in order to raise them to the corresponding standard of Model SHS. This will contribute to the improvement of quality of teaching and learning in the education sector and will increase employment, reduce crime rate, and improve national security, which will have a positive impact on the country's socio-economic indicators.

 

The Project comprises construction of new buildings for administration blocks, new educational facilities and classrooms, and additional students' dormitories in about 26 existing Senior High Schools, and equipping them with educational furniture and tools, whereby the needs of each school for buildings and educational facilities and equipment differs from other schools according to the needs of each school and its priorities, in addition to the institutional support for the Project Implementation Unit, the training of teaching staff and administrators, and the consultancy services for the design and supervision of the Project implementation.

The total cost of the Project, including physical and price contingencies and interest during the implementation period, is estimated at about 108.538 Million Ghanaian Cedi, equivalent to about 8.401 Million Kuwaiti Dinars, of which about 4.946 Million Kuwaiti Dinars, is in foreign currency, representing about 59% of the total cost of the Project. The Fund's Loan in the amount of 7.0 Million Kuwaiti Dinars will cover about 83% of the total cost of the Project. The Government of the Republic of Ghana shall cover the remainder of the Project costs and any increase in the cost of the Project.

                        The Loan shall be for a period of 25 Years, including a grace period of 5 Years, and shall be repaid in 40 semi-annual installments, the first of which will be due on the first date on which interest or other charges will fall due, pursuant to the Loan Agreement, after the expiration of the said grace period. The Loan bears an interest rate of 1.0% per annum, in addition to a rate of 0.5% per annum to meet administrative costs and other expenses incurred in the implementation of the Loan Agreement.

 

This Kuwait Fund's Loan represents the 10^th Loan extended by the Kuwait Fund to the Republic of Ghana, as the Kuwait Fund has previously extended 9 Loans to the Republic of Ghana, to finance projects in various sectors, with a total amount of approximately 39.573 Million Kuwaiti Dinars (equivalent to about US$134.54 Million). The Kuwait Fund has also provided the Republic of Ghana with Two Technical Assistances, the First for the Korle Lagoon Dredging Studies and Technical Survey, in the amount of approximately 91.8 Thousand Kuwaiti Dinars (equivalent to about US$312.12 Thousand), which was incorporated to the extended loan for the same project, and the Second, to finance a Technical and Economic Feasibility Study for a project in the Agriculture Sector, in the amount of approximately 394.4 Thousand Kuwaiti Dinars (equivalent to about US$1.340 Million), and has also provided the Republic of Ghana with a Grant to finance a Technical and Economic Feasibility Study for a project in the Health Sector, in the amount of approximately 143.6 Thousand Kuwaiti Dinars (equivalent to about US$488.24 Thousand).