China to release $1.2b second tranche of Ghana $3b loan in August – Report

The China Development Bank (CDB) will release another $1.2 billion to Ghana by the end of August 2012 as part of a $3 billion loan agreement, the China Daily has reported July 17, 2012 citing Ghana’s Deputy Finance Minister Mr Seth Terkper.

Mr Terkper, who is in Beijing, told the state-run newspaper on Tuesday July 17, 2012 that the funds will be used to build a gas pipeline and processing plant for the Jubilee oilfield.

He added that China Petroleum & Chemical Corp will carry out the pipeline and plant construction.

In April this year, Ghana and China finalized the first, $1 billion installment of the loan package when Vice President John Mahama visited the Asian country.

Mr Mahama in an April 2012 interview with Bloomberg justified the master facility saying “China has emerged as a significant source of credit to Africa, traditionally our partners have been the World Bank and the IMF.”

“The process for accessing World Bank and IMF credit has been unfortunately quite tiresome and comes with a lot of strings,” Mr Mahaama told Bloomberg.

By Ekow Quandzie