To fund the delivery of urban infrastructure in 35 metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies, the government has obtained $145 million in credit financing from the World Bank (MMDAs).
The project is a part of the Ghana Secondary Cities Support Projects (GSCSPs), and the credit facility will be distributed to the assembly this year in accordance with their population sizes. The project comprises marketplaces, storm drains, roadways, pedestrian walkways, and streetlights.
Dan Botwe, the minister of local government, decentralization, and rural development, said this yesterday in Accra at the beginning of the 2022 Ghana Urban Forum.
The Ghana Urban Forum, which was established in 2009 with assistance from CHF International, intends to become a permanent forum for all participants in the urban sector to forge a national consensus on how to handle the benefits and difficulties of increasing urbanization.
Over 200 professionals in urban development have gathered for the two-day symposium this year to debate pertinent urban development issues and advance good governance and development.
Rapid urban growth in Ghana: Promoting efficient urban planning for livable and sustainable cities and towns is the theme of the conference.
Flagship Projects
The GSCSPs, according to Mr. Botwe, have completed 117 infrastructure projects since their establishment in 2018, providing the assembly with amenities including markets, storm drains, bus terminals, roads, pedestrian walkways, and streetlights.
He said that up until recently, 25 local assemblies around the nation were to receive $100 million in GSCSPs intended to provide transformational urban infrastructure.
Between 2018 and 2021, GH1,881,553,238 was distributed to the 25 first assemblies under that plan to build a number of urban flagship sub-projects that would support regional economic growth.
“The implementation of 66 extra infrastructure projects for Urban Development grants One and Two in the 25 municipal assembly is at various levels of completion,” he stated.
Other Initiatives
In 48 MMDAs in six regions—Northern, Upper West, Upper East, North East, Savannah, and Oti—under the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) project, Mr. Botwe said the government had also acquired a $150 million IDA/World Bank credit facility.
By providing socioeconomic and climatic resilient infrastructure, he claimed, the SOCO project will lessen the vulnerability of border communities to extremism and violence.
He stated that in order to better their living conditions, women and young people will also receive training in income-generating enterprises.
The Ghana Productive Safety Net Initiative, a World Bank credit facility secured by the government, was being implemented in 100 MMDAs, he said, similarly to the SOCO project.
He said that grants and entrepreneurial training will be given to 15,000 people so they could start their own businesses.
Additionally, it is anticipated that 50,000 people will receive short-term employment through the project’s labor-intensive public works (LIPW) component.
The successful completion of these initiatives, in conjunction with other government interventions in these localities, is anticipated to enhance living circumstances for Ghanaians and lessen rural-urban migration, he said.
Aligning spatial planning
The Local Government Minister added that the ministry was carrying out the Ghana Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project (GUMAP), which aims to improve the capabilities of the institutions in charge of major aspects of Greater Accra Metropolitan Area traffic planning and management, including public transportation.
He said that the government has made efforts to re-align the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA) as an agency of the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization, and Rural Development after realizing the necessity to enhance urban planning and management.
In order to ensure that each development plan had a corresponding spatial plan that was monitored and implemented to promote sustainable development within our cities and towns, he explained that the move was intended to emphasize and reinforce the role of MMDAs in urban development control.
Meeting SDGs
Francis Asenso-Boakye, the Minister of Works and Housing, said the event offered a chance to assess how the nation’s cities were being planned and built and to suggest sustainable solutions to reach the Sustainable Development Goals’ targets with only eight years until 2030.
The possibility of national urban policies to address issues in the areas of the environment, housing, mobility, spatial planning, innovation, and technology, according to him, was discussed at a high level.
Strengthen Collaboration
Professor Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa, a former vice chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), invited specialists and stakeholders to offer advice on how the nation may plan and run its affairs to transform the cities for sustained socio-economic growth.
By outlining norms and principles for planning the potential construction, development, and improvement of human settlements, he claimed it was imperative to promote competent urban planning for livable and sustainable cities and towns.
Additionally, he urged all parties to intensify their efforts in order to address the nation’s urban difficulties.
Urban Planning
Henry Quartey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, reemphasized the need for more urban infrastructure in light of the city’s growing urbanization.
He expressed his hope that the forum’s results will encourage the government and other stakeholders to pledge their support for effective urban planning and development.
The World Bank pledged to continue providing funding and technical assistance to enhance the urban economy in a speech delivered on his behalf by Pierre Frank Laporte, Country Director, CMU.
Charles Abani, the UN Resident Coordinator in Ghana, praised the World Bank and UN Habitat for their assistance and technical know-how in advancing the sustainable development agenda.