November 5, 2007 - Ghanaian government officials on Monday joined World Bank staff to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ghana’s membership into the Bank and International Monetary Fund. The event, held at the World Bank’s Washington D.C. headquarters, coincided with Ghana’s 2007 celebration of 50 years of its independence.
Some 200 people gathered for the ceremony, which included remarks from Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States H.E. Bawuah Edusei, an address by the World Bank’s Africa Region Vice
"Ghana is a country that any African should be proud of," says Obiageli Ezekwesili, World Bank V.P. for Africa.
President Obiageli Ezekwesili, the screening of a new documentary Ghana and the World Bank: 50 Years of Reliable Partnership, and the official opening of an art exhibit focused on Ghanaian artists.
“[Ghana] is a country that any African should be proud of,” Ezekwesili, a Nigerian national, told the audience.
She congratulated Ghana’s leadership on its development achievements and lauded the country for being on the World Bank’s list of 17 high-performing countries. Ghana, she said, is well on track to achieve the top most of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals – halving poverty by 2015.
In 1957, Ghana became the third country in Sub-Saharan Africa, following Ethiopia and Liberia, to join the World Bank. The first Bank-funded project, the US$47 million Akosombo Hydroelectric Power Dam, was one of the largest in the world at the time.
Since then, the Bank has funded some US$5 billion in projects in Ghana in areas including education, infrastructure, health and energy. Among the projects currently underway:
Hon Oboshie Sai Cofie (middle), Minister of Information and National Orientation cutting the ribbon to open the exhibitions. Also in the photo—Ambassador Kwame Bawuah-Edusei, Paatii Ofosu Amaah (V.P. and Corporate Secretary, World Bank), and Kwabena Amankwah-Ayeh (Senior Urban Development Specialist, World Bank).
The Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation project
The Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Programme
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise project
The Road Sector Development Programme
Though Ghana has faced some ups and downs since its independence in 1957 – the country faced an economic crisis in the early 1980s – its recovery has been stellar. Poverty declined from 52 percent in 1990 to 28 percent in 2006, according to Mats Karlsson, World Bank country director for Ghana. The country has almost entirely written off its debt and has become one of the best-performing economies in Africa.
“The Bank and the [International Monetary] Fund have stood by Ghana during the challenging years,” Ghana’s Ambassador Bawuah Edusei, said during the ceremony. He said the two organizations have provided advice as well as funds.
In her keynote address, Oboshie Sai Cofie, Ghana’s minister of Information and National Orientation noted that even with the help of the World Bank and IMF, Ghana must work to accelerate its own growth.
Ghanaians and Friends of Ghana at the opening ceremony.
“The World Bank and the IMF can only help us,” she said. “They cannot solve our problems for us and our predicament must not be more their concern than ours.”
The 50th Anniversary celebration will continue at the World Bank with a dialogue session on Nov. 6 titled Ghana 50 Years Ago, Ghana Today, Ghana 50 Years to Come.
RSS