At least, One hundred and ten (110) sub infrastructure projects out of a total number of five hundred and eighty-two (582) earmarked for the first year implementation of the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) project funded by the World Bank have been completed, the acting Project Coordinator, Elizabeth Ohenewah Agyei has confirmed.
The outstanding number are, however, on the average completion rate of 63 per cent.
“Like I said, on average we have about 63% completion across board, so we have about 110 of them currently that are completed but of course when it’s completed we just don’t mark them completed, we’ve to go through the technical circle of ensuring that all the technical feasibility studies or the technicians who’re involved are able to mark them to say that it’s been well done.”
She further announced that in the coming year, about 700 additional sub-projects are expected to be delivered, asserting these projects have gone through the same selection process as the previous year with the beneficiary communities selecting their priority projects.
“The communities submitted through the assemblies what their priorities are and it has been brought to our attention. Now, the next step to be done is the feasibility studies in terms of the screening for social and environmental issues, also looking at the technical feasibility of what they have submitted and once all of them pass those tests, the next step is advertise and procure the services of contractors to deliver them” she stated.
Madam Elizabeth made the disclosure in a media interview after a capacity building workshop on Tuesday, (March 12, 2024) for about 108 District Coordinating Directors, District and Regional Budget Analysts.
The objective of the workshop was to provide orientation of the project to the beneficiary Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA)
budget officers and to enhance their capacities in GIFMIS for effective financial
management of the project.
She revealed that as a result of the project activities, some 3,748 new job opportunities have been
created.
To date, she added about 4,709 people have participated in local capacity building activities and 617
Common Interest groups being trained in income generation activities.
It is envisaged that these trainings will ultimately contribute to the achievement of the
project objectives of increasing productivity and job creation, improving access to basic
services and economic opportunities, contributing to climate resilience and enhancing
cross border trade and information sharing within the region.
Additionally, Madam Elizabeth Agyei noted that about 9, 431 Community members have been reached with agricultural and
processing assets and services.
