Ghana, IMF agree to set up new Africa Regional Technical Assistance Center in Accra
The International Monetary Fund and Ghana have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a new Africa Regional Technical Assistance Center (AFRITAC) in Accra.
When completed, the centre will be the second in West Africa after the one in Ivory Coast.
The MoU was signed by Ghana’s Finance Minister Seth Terkper and IMF’s Deputy Managing Director in Washington April 18, 2013, according to an IMF statement.
The selection of Ghana to become the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Regional Technical Assistance Centre in West Africa was announced in a press statement Wednesday November 11, 2009 by the IMF’s African Department.
The Accra AFRITAC is expected to be set up in late 2013 and officials say the center will serve Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
“AFRITAC West 2 will be the IMF’s ninth regional technical assistance center worldwide and fifth center in sub-Saharan Africa, fulfilling our commitment to extend the AFRITAC network to all sub-Saharan African countries,” Ms. Shafik said at the MoU signing ceremony.
Commenting, Mr Terkper said “The approach adopted for the operations and governance structure of AFRITAC West 2 will allow us to obtain demand-driven, hands-on advice in a rapidly changing world where predictability has increasingly become an issue.”
Switzerland and the United Kingdom, together with the IMF and other donors in 2009 pledged $130 million to finance the $200 million project.
The Africa Regional Technical Assistance Centers (AFRITACs) are part of the IMF’s Africa Capacity-Building Initiative, launched in May 2002. The initiative promotes strengthening the capacity of African countries to design and implement their poverty-reducing strategies, as well as to improve the coordination of capacity development efforts.
The centre is financed by contributions from the beneficiary countries, bilateral and multilateral donors, and the IMF.
By Ekow Quandzie & Emmanuel K. Dogbevi