Ms. Nilmini Rubin, a senior member of staff on the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee (which has oversight over the Multilateral Development Banks) recently visited Ghana as part of a study to assess project and programme effectiveness of aid, and proffer recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of international financial institution funding. She was accompanied by Mr. Phil Cummings (Chief, Economic Section of the US Embassy in Accra).

General issues relating to Bank Group portfolio in Ghana were discussed and the delegation noted with appreciation that Ghana had only one outstanding Project Completion Report. AfDB was implored to ensure that access to data on country information were available on the Bank's website.

The delegation was later taken on a field trip by Mr. Patrick Agboma (Country Programme Officer, AfDB) and Mrs. Efua Amissah-Arthur (Social Development Specialist, AfDB) to Tema Secondary School (35 kms east of Accra), one of the beneficiary schools under the Development of Senior Secondary Education Project, being financed by the Bank Group under a loan/grant amount of UA 25 million for the rehabilitation, expansion and equipment of core academic facilities, including the supply of furniture and scientific equipment for 25 Senior Secondary Schools in Ghana. The school management expressed their appreciation to the Bank Group saying that the construction of a six-unit classroom block, a computer block, a visual arts center and a 12-seater water cistern toilet facility, as well as the rehabilitation of the administration block, one two-storey classroom block, a science block and two, three-storey classroom blocks, were the first notable improvements made in the school since its establishment in the 1960's.

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Felix Njoku