The World Bank has approved 150 million U.S. dollars to help the Ghanaian government control flood in the country’s capital of Accra, a release from the bank’s Ghana office said Friday.
The World Bank financing was for the improvement of the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project to improve flood risk management and solid waste management for more than 2.5 million people in the Odaw River Basin in the heart of the capital.
The World Bank said Accra, accounting for 40 percent of Ghana’s non-oil gross domestic product, has been facing increased flood risks that may reduce the country’s economic and social development potential.
The GARID project, said the World Bank, would prioritize investments to enhance resilience to flood risks and improve solid waste management systems in targeted communities of the Odaw River Basin area.
“This support is critical to achieving the World Bank’s goals of ending extreme poverty, boosting shared prosperity and increasing the resilience of African cities,” said Pierre Laporte, the World Bank country director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. “The World Bank is happy to support Ghana amid these macroeconomic challenges and to help contribute to a holistic flood management approach through this additional financing of GARID.” Enditem
