Social Enterprise Development (SEND) Ghana has insisted that the country’s 2021 appropriation bill is still dependent on foreign donors.

In its analysis of the national budgets from 2018–2021, the research and policy think tank revealed that the government still relied heavily on development partners to fund its capital investments, despite its vision to pursue ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda.

Speaking at a news conference in Accra, SEND Ghana Country Director, George Osei-Bimpeh, said in the agriculture sector, DPs were expected to contribute 84.8 percent of allocation to finance capital expenditures of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development.

Osei-Bimpeh stated that while investment in capital expenditure was critical in stimulating growth, over reliance on donor support put at risk the government’s drive in pursuing agricultural modernisation and industrialisation.

On the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, he said investments in the provision of Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) service in the last three years was largely donor-driven.

According to Osei-Bumper, in 2019, 70.26 percent of projected allocation to WASH was sourced from donors and in 2020, it increased to 82.39 percent.

‘With this trend, the government will most likely miss its target to reducing grants by ten percent to finance goods and services and CAPEX [capital expenditure] by 2023 as envisioned in Ghana Beyond Aid strategy document’, he said.

Osei-Bimpeh advised government to renegotiate and control the country’s natural resources and find a sustainable way to fund and implement its capital investments.

Source: Modern Ghana

Photo source: Modern Ghana