Barely a year after the European bloc supported Ghana with €190 million to improve service delivery, the European Union (EU) has recently announced €31.6 million in aid to bolster the West African country’s employment and social protection programmes.
Officials say the money will support the implementation of the country’s employment and social protection programme to be implemented under four crucial areas and enhance effectiveness and efficiency of Ghana’s social protection system.
The fund is also expected to improve employment policy management, strengthen technical and vocational education as well as training opportunities for the small and medium enterprises along the agricultural value chains, the EU said.
Ambassador William Hanna, head of the EU delegation to Ghana, disclosed this when he led a delegation of a team of experts to present their inception outline and approach for conducting a needs assessment of Ghana’s employment and labour relations ministry.
The EU suspended budgetary support worth €134 million to Ghana in 2014, due to an alleged bloated payroll that worsened the country’s fiscal problems, but later resumed aid to the West African country, citing positive outcome of government talks with the International Monetary Fund on a financial assistance programme and other factors leading to the conclusion of a $918 million three-year deal in 2015.
Labour minister Haruna Iddrisu was quoted at the just concluded meeting saying the €31.6 million would focus on helping the country shape its economic outlook this year.
His comments come weeks after the international money lender praised Ghana’s fiscal consolidation efforts, but said the country’s economic outlook remained “difficult with risks tilted to the downside.”