UK gives Ghana £2b in aid in 20 years

In the last 20 years the UK government says it has given Ghana £2 billion in aid in the last 20 years.

According to a GNA report, the UK government is reviewing its aid to Ghana since the country attained lower-middle income status in 2010, has now acknowledged the changing nature of its aid to the country.

The review being undertaken by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), which scrutinises UK aid spending, notes: “Since 2012, the portfolio has been reoriented towards helping Ghana overcome its economic and governance challenges and mobilise the resources to finance its own development.

“However, Ghana’s persistent poverty and growing inequality suggests there is still a role for UK aid to play in delivering better human development outcomes and protecting the results of past assistance.”

Citing ICAI’s Portfolio Review Approach paper released this month, it commended Ghana for maintaining political stability since returning to democracy in 1992.

While the country has launched a strategy called ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’, to wean itself from international development assistance, a number of donor countries have already started cutting aid to the country.

For instance, last year, Denmark ended all its development assistance programmes to Ghana.

The country is expected to raise development funding from domestic resource mobilization.