Innovative Financing Strategies for Infrastructure in Ghana

The project assisted the Ministry of Finance and several other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in building national capacity to use contextualised evidence-based tools: NISMOD and SIFT. The National Infrastructure Systems Model (NISMOD) is a strategic infrastructure planning tool that assists decision-makers on whether proposed infrastructure projects are aligned with SDG objectives and the Paris Agreement by assessing prospective project impacts on 80 SDG indicators and the country's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The Sustainable Infrastructure Financing Tool (SIFT) is a cutting-edge tool that assists governments in identifying evidence-based sources of infrastructure financing.

Ghana Infrastructure Financing for the SDGs: Infrastructure Financing Strategy, and Ghana Rising: Sustainable Infrastructure Post COVID-19 (Pipeline of Infrastructure Projects) report were handed over to the Ministry of Finance at the closing event. The Infrastructure Financing Strategy (IFS) report highlights 82 potential financing opportunities for pipeline projects and a strategic financing plan to identify project-aligned financiers for future development projects.

Speaking at the closing event, Prof. George Yaw Gyan-Baffour, Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister of Finance stated that “It is our hope and expectation that this Innovative Financing Strategies for Infrastructure project will help accelerate financing for sustainable infrastructure in Ghana ultimately to bridge the infrastructure financing gap which is critical in achieving the global goals by 2030.” He expressed the government's appreciation to UNOPS for their support towards ensuring a successful completion of the project, and to all stakeholders for their various roles.

The Director/Representative of UNOPS Ghana Multi-Country Office, Ifeoma Esther Charles-Monwuba in her closing remarks noted that “UNOPS will continue to provide strategic advice to ensure that Ghana's infrastructure planning is geared towards achieving the SDGs, given that infrastructure impacts 92% of all SDG targets. We are certain that we can only achieve our great aspirations for achieving the SDGs in Ghana through collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and other strategic partners.”

The UN Resident Coordinator for Ghana, Mr. Charles Abani commended UNOPS for the quality of the analysis that went into the production of the tools.