What the future holds

Ghanaian President J. A. Kufuor will be meeting his French counterpart, Jacque Chirac this weekend in Paris. President Kufuor is visiting at the invitation of the French President. France has supported Ghana since independence. The President's visit to France is expected to solidify the good relations that have existed between the two countries.since then. The Accra Mail presents below a brief look at some of the areas the French have been assiting Ghana.

The Media

The French Embassy gives assistance to the profession as a whole without focussing on any newspaper, radio or media company in particular. The studio school of GBC will be soon provided with a digital station that could be used by trainees from private radios of Ghana as well as by radio professionals from the sub-region.

French cooperation also lends its support to the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA). The GJA has been given a large number of professional books in English and French. French teaching and free access to French sources of information through the web should be provided for journalists in 2002.

Special assistance has been given to the National Media Commission (NMC); two invitations to France (to the Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel - CSA), and its library has received several technical books on media regulations.

French actions of cooperation are also intended for the Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs where a project has been set up including:

- training for the construction of a website with the opening of links with organs under the supervision of the Ministry;

- providing computer equipment.

Agriculture

In view of the Ghana Government's priorities regarding food security, agricultural stakeholders capacity building and emergence of farmers' organizations, a first institutional project will be launched next January.

This project, which is complementary to AFD's agricultural production supporting projects and to the World Bank programme (Agsip), will focus on the rice sub-sector. Its main objective, as a pilot project, will be to give institutional support to rice growers in the Northern Region and at the national level. Two French technical assistants will help the Ghanaian experts.

The project, which is for three years, will cost 1.4 million euros.

Research

Several projects to support agronomic research are currently in progress:

- the first one is intended for fish breeders

- the second one concerns laboratory of research into the coconut sector of the Oil Palm Research Institute and is aimed at fighting the lethal yellowing disease caused by a phytoplasma (in Takoradi)

- the third one is intended for cocoa producer countries such as Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroun, Togo and Nigeria. A French project coordinator has just arrived to take part in it. This project will cost 1 million euros

Support to the modernization of the administration and the decentralization process

France will continue to act in favour of the modernisation of the administration by offering, like in the previous years, several training scholarships to senior civil servants. At the request of the Ghana Government, France is studying the possibility of setting up a training programme for senior local officers and district assemblies.

Assistance to Ghana police in the fields of law enforcement and criminal investigation

A partnership is beginning in the fields of enforcement of the law, crimina1 investigation and scientific and technical police work.

Contribution to the modernisation of the judicial system and to the promotion of the Organization fu the harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA)

In order to support the programme of modernization of the Ministry of Justice, France wil1 take port in the computer training of judicial personnel of district tribunals. France will also keep on promoting OHADA in order to reinforce Ghana's regional interrogation in her francophone environment.

Support to the fight against crime and drug trafficking

France will assist Ghana in her fight against the development of organized crime by promoting the UN Convention against cross-border crime. France will also support the Narcotics Control Board by financing the campaign against the use of drugs by the youth.

Promotion of human rights

France will provide the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice with computer equipment as well as training courses for two senior officers to create a human rights website which will connect to other African and French human rights organisations networks.

Co-operation with community-based development NGOs

In 1999, the French Co-operation launched a special budget to give financia1 assistance to community-based development projects proposed by Ghanaian non-governmental organizations (NGOs): the Social Fund for Development. This fund for the first two years totalled about three hundred thousand dollars.

The French Embassy has been able to help twelve micro-projects throughout Ghana, in the fields of rural development (food processing, micro-credit for farmers, agriculture training centres, irrigation works...) and urban life conditions improvement (micro-finance for urban inhabitants, education and sport centres for the youth...).

lt has paid particular attention to deprived rural communities, especially in the north of Ghana, but also to underprivileged target groups, such women, the youth (in particular the issue of youth training), or disabled people.

The Social Fund for Development aims at implementing income generating activities, providing improved health and education facilities and training the youth to give them better opportunities in future as economic agents and citizens through the full initiative and participation of communities.

This kind of co-operation has proved its usefulness and efficiency. French intervention in that field will be intensified.

Sports

Traditionally, sports co-operation has focused on support to the organisation of annual competitions, in collaboration with Ghanaian partners:

- Cycling, with the Tour of Ghana and La Route d'Accra (Ghana Cycling Association);

- Handball, with the Franco-Ghanaian National Handball Championship (Handbal1 Association of Ghana).

More recently, French Co-operation has paid a great attention to new fields of sports partnership, which aim at enhancing the capacity of Ghanaian sports associations and helping the development of women's sport practice.

This has been given concrete expression through the visit of some French experts in the sports that France has a long experience and top results in international competitions, such as Handball. The aim is to provide training of trainers, so that Ghanaian associations can share the French expertise in those fields. This is a long-term effort.

French co-operation also provides some support to the development of female sport in Ghana, through its commitment with the Women Sport Association of Ghana. This takes the form of organisation of workshops for female athletes and trainers, competitions and lectures for young female pupils.

The quality of French partnership with the various Ghanaian sports associations and the success of the different events organised with them make this field of co-operation a remarkable one to deepen.