Development Bank is one of my administration’s policies to revitalize the economy – Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that the Development Bank of Ghana (DBG) is one of his administration’s many policy measures aimed at accelerating Ghana’s economic growth.
According to him, the DBG’s main goal is to provide long-term investment to the private sector while also developing the ecosystem for market access technology and innovation.
Mr Akufo-Addo during the official launch of the DBG on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, stated that the “launch comes on the heels of some unfortunate, unforgettable commentaries that accompanied the process leading to the establishment of the bank”.
The President remarked that “A year on, the Development Bank Ghana has seen the light of the day as its foundation will help spearhead the vision of moving our nation, the situation beyond aid which involves positioning the private sector to take the lead in the socio-economic transformation of our country and create quality jobs of our young people”.
He added that the idea of setting up the Development Bank Ghana was indeed announced in the 2017 budget statement and economic policy when I first assumed office. It is one of the many policy initiatives that my government has come up with to help transform the Ghanaian economy. According to the president, the overriding objective of setting up Development Bank Ghana is “to make long-term funding available to the private sector and develop the ecosystem for market access technology and innovation”.
Speaking at the same program, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Dr Ernest Addison affirmed that “the commissioning of DBG today, could not have come at a better time because globally, there is a resurgence in the establishment of new Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in developing countries.
“This is largely due to the fact that existing DFIs have been unable to effectively address market gaps, facilitate meaningful increases in financial intermediation in terms of outreach and scale”.
Dr Ernest Addison further stated that “the National Development Banks, along with multilateral Development Banks, play active roles in mobilizing public and private sector resources to support critical economic sectors. Over time, the role of development banks has expanded to include finance for infrastructure expansion, environmentally green projects, as well as a wide range of developmental objectives. Despite these, DFIs maintain the provision of medium to long-term finance and project finance at the core of their activities.”
The DBG, according to the government’s Finance Ministry, is an integral part of the GHS100 billion Ghana Cares ‘Obaatampa’ Project, which is aimed at revitalizing the Ghanaian economy following the commencement of Covid-19.
The Ministry of Finance and the European Investment Bank had already signed an agreement to provide a 170 million euro (€170 million) facility for the DBG’s formation.
This happened on Wednesday, May 19th, 2021, during President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-official Addo’s visit to Belgium, when he met with Dr Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank.
According to Dr Hoyer, the €170 million facility was the largest the European Investment Bank had ever issued.
