By Jeorge Wilson KINGSON
Parliament has approved a Euro 40million loan agreement between Ghana and Agence Francaise de Development of France (AFD) to support the Ghana Urban Management Pilot Project (GUMPP).
The GUMPP to be elaborated, managed and implemented by each selected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly (MMDA) is meant to improve living conditions in some selected cities while reinforcing their capacities for service delivery and accountability by designing a strategic, realistic and practical urban management project for each city.
The terms and conditions of the agreement include €500,000 grant amount, one percent interest rate per annum, 10 years grace period, 20 years repayment period and a maturity period of 30 years.
Activities to be carried out under the facility include the construction of markets, roads, landfills sites and abattoirs, in addition to improving urban planning, street naming, property valuation and revenue mobilization through the introduction of computer-based mapping and GIS in the cities.
Chairman of Parliament’s Finance Committee, James Klutse Avedzi, said the construction of infrastructure will have a positive impact on job creation through employment of local labour and an increase in commercial activities and attractiveness of the cities.
In its recommendation, the Finance Committee noted that the sanitation works, drainage and waste management systems and rehabilitation of abattoirs will make the beneficiary urban environments healthier, reduce floods, stagnant water and its associated diseases.
“The Committee found out that the component on street addressing, property valuation and creation of property registries with computerized land registration will increase Internally Generated Funds (IGFs) collection of the assemblies thereby enhancing the financial autonomy of the cities,” the report stated.
As to how much of the facility will be spent in each city, will be determined by the formula for the distribution of the District Development Facility (DDF).
Ghana is currently facing rapid urban growth. In 2008, the country was populated by an estimated 23.9 million people, and forecasts indicate that the population will reach 33.7 million by 2025 and 48.8 million by 2050, an indication that the Ghanaian population will double in within the next 40 years.
As in other developing countries, majority of the expected demographic growth will be registered within cities, with the urban population expected to represent 58% of the total population by 2020.
It is also forecasted that the traditional image of rural Ghana will diminish in relevance, and the main social, economic and political Ghanaian challenges will have to be tackled in urban and peri-urban areas.
In the context of a fast urbanization pace in Ghana and an on-going decentralization process, the government made a request to donors for support in defining a national urban policy to which the AFD proposed to launch an urban management initiative in the country.
The Agence’s initiative covers four cities that will constitute pilot, aiming at developing urban management practices and methods that can be further replicated in other cities of the country.
Parliament has approved a Euro 40million loan agreement between Ghana and Agence Francaise de Development of France (AFD) to support the Ghana Urban Management Pilot Project (GUMPP).
The GUMPP to be elaborated, managed and implemented by each selected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly (MMDA) is meant to improve living conditions in some selected cities while reinforcing their capacities for service delivery and accountability by designing a strategic, realistic and practical urban management project for each city.
The terms and conditions of the agreement include €500,000 grant amount, one percent interest rate per annum, 10 years grace period, 20 years repayment period and a maturity period of 30 years.
Activities to be carried out under the facility include the construction of markets, roads, landfills sites and abattoirs, in addition to improving urban planning, street naming, property valuation and revenue mobilization through the introduction of computer-based mapping and GIS in the cities.
Chairman of Parliament’s Finance Committee, James Klutse Avedzi, said the construction of infrastructure will have a positive impact on job creation through employment of local labour and an increase in commercial activities and attractiveness of the cities.
In its recommendation, the Finance Committee noted that the sanitation works, drainage and waste management systems and rehabilitation of abattoirs will make the beneficiary urban environments healthier, reduce floods, stagnant water and its associated diseases.
“The Committee found out that the component on street addressing, property valuation and creation of property registries with computerized land registration will increase Internally Generated Funds (IGFs) collection of the assemblies thereby enhancing the financial autonomy of the cities,” the report stated.
As to how much of the facility will be spent in each city, will be determined by the formula for the distribution of the District Development Facility (DDF).
Ghana is currently facing rapid urban growth. In 2008, the country was populated by an estimated 23.9 million people, and forecasts indicate that the population will reach 33.7 million by 2025 and 48.8 million by 2050, an indication that the Ghanaian population will double in within the next 40 years.
As in other developing countries, majority of the expected demographic growth will be registered within cities, with the urban population expected to represent 58% of the total population by 2020.
It is also forecasted that the traditional image of rural Ghana will diminish in relevance, and the main social, economic and political Ghanaian challenges will have to be tackled in urban and peri-urban areas.
In the context of a fast urbanization pace in Ghana and an on-going decentralization process, the government made a request to donors for support in defining a national urban policy to which the AFD proposed to launch an urban management initiative in the country.
The Agence’s initiative covers four cities that will constitute pilot, aiming at developing urban management practices and methods that can be further replicated in other cities of the country.
Comments