President John Dramani Mahama says the government has secured a $300 million financing package from the World Bank to expand infrastructure in senior high schools and permanently end the double-track system by the end of 2027.

President Mahama disclosed this when he received the Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Makhtar Diop, for a high-level bilateral engagement.

The meeting formed part of discussions on strengthening cooperation between Ghana and the World Bank Group, with education infrastructure among the key areas of focus.History

In a social media post on Thursday, September 17, Mr Mahama said the financing would support efforts to address infrastructure constraints resulting from the expansion of access to secondary education under the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy.

“Through our collaboration with the World Bank, we have secured a $300 million financing package to permanently end the double-track system in Senior High Schools by the end of 2027.”

The double-track system was introduced to accommodate increased enrolment under the Free SHS policy amid limited classroom, dormitory and other infrastructure.

Beyond education, President Mahama said the discussions also focused on opportunities to deepen commercial agriculture, particularly in cocoa, oil palm and poultry.

He said the government remained committed to strengthening domestic processing as part of its industrialisation strategy and creating more sustainable employment opportunities for young people.

President Mahama said the government had reiterated its policy of processing at least 50% of Ghana’s cocoa, agricultural produce and mineral resources locally.

“Our discussions focused on deepening our strategic partnership to transform Ghana’s economy, with a strong emphasis on boosting commercial agriculture production in cocoa, oil palm, and poultry. Reaffirming our commitment to industrialisation, I reiterated our firm policy to process at least 50% of our cocoa, farm produce, and mineral resources to create sustainable jobs for our youth.”

Source: Citinewsroom