Accra, April 5, GNA - Ghana could be on the verge of assessing substantial finance from the international financial market if she succeeded in meeting the standards of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

Briefing Journalists in Accra, Dr Chris Stals, Member of the Panel of Eminent Persons for the APRM, said the Mechanism was important by all standards as they made the country visible to the international financial institutions that would get to know that Ghana stood tall in the areas of democracy and good political governance, economic governance and management, corporate governance and socio-economic development.

Dr Stals made the comments at a briefing to start the Review Team's process under which the Eminent Persons would meet the various stakeholders in Accra; Kumasi; Wa; Cape Coast and Ho. The Eminent Persons would also review the National Self-Assessment Report submitted to the Government by the Governing Council.

He said he was optimistic that Ghana having come this far in effecting democracy could be making greater in-roads in furthering democracy and democratic governance in Africa.

The APRM is a self-monitoring mechanism intended to foster the adoption of policies and practices that would lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated regional and economic integration.

Dr Stals said 23 countries of the African Union had so far acceded to the APRM. Ghana was among the first countries to accede to the APRM.

The Review Team of 16 is made up of officials from the APRM Secretariat including Dr Benard Kouassi, Executive Director of the APRM Secretariat, experts from strategic partner institutions from the African Development Bank, UN Commission for Africa and independent technical experts from each thematic area.