The Government of Ghana and the African Development Bank have stepped up joint efforts to address procurement and payment-processing constraints that have slowed delivery of Bank-financed projects in the country.
About 90 officials, including project managers and technical specialists attended a four-day institutional capacity-building and fiduciary clinic in Accra from 22 to 25 September. The clinic focused on measures to strengthen oversight and accelerate implementation. The clinic followed a 2025 review of the Bank's Ghana portfolio, which found that lengthy procurement processes, incomplete payment documentation and slow domestic payment procedures were holding up implementation. The review also flagged weaknesses in environmental and social reporting, project monitoring and baseline data.
Project teams were encouraged to make greater use of the Remote Appraisal, Supervision, Monitoring and Evaluation tool, known as RASME, which was launched in Ghana in June 2026.
The Bank's approved and ongoing portfolio in Ghana comprises 20 operations with total commitments of approximately $744 million. This includes 15 sovereign operations valued $545 million and five non-sovereign operations valued at $199 million). The review found that nationally implemented projects had a 100 percent audit compliance rate.
"Ghana has a substantial portfolio of Bank-supported operations. Our immediate priority is to remove the practical bottlenecks that delay implementation and turn financing into measurable results for communities," said Halima Hashi, the Bank's Country Manager for Ghana.
"The success of our partnership cannot be measured only by the volume of financing we provide. It must also be measured by the quality, timeliness, and sustainability of the results we deliver together," Hashi added.
Participants came from Ghana's Ministry of Finance, sector ministries, project implementation units, the Public Procurement Authority, and the Internal Audit Agency. Representatives of non-sovereign operations also attended.
Opening the clinic, Isaac Fraikue, Director of the External Resource Mobilisation Division at the Ministry of Finance, highlighted the importance of strong institutions and effective oversight.
"The value of this clinic lies in the actions that follow it. Stronger procurement, financial management and oversight will help project teams use development resources efficiently and deliver results more quickly," Fraikue said.
He added that sound fiduciary and procurement practices were essential for achieving value for money, protecting development resources, and promoting transparency and accountability.
Each participating project team was expected to leave the clinic with a written, time-bound corrective action plan addressing its main implementation challenges. The plans are intended to support Ghana's 2025/26 Country Portfolio Improvement Plan.The clinic was organised by the Bank Group's African Development Institute in collaboration with the Ghana Country Office and the government. It forms part of the Bank's broader work to strengthen institutional and fiduciary capacity in its regional member countries.
The initiative also supports the African Development Bank's Country Strategy Paper for Ghana 2024-2029 and its Ten-Year Strategy 2024-2033.
