London -- His Excellency Mr. J. A. Kufuor, President of the Republic of Ghana has declared in London that the Millennium Challenge Account would energise the agricultural sector and catapult Ghana into an era of accelerated growth and sustained development.

He indicated that the compact would bolster and diversify the Agricultural sector through a vigorous development of the non-traditional exports component and help institutionise new work ethics and a culture of commercial farming in Ghana.

The President said the ripple effect of modernised Agriculture through the use of tractors, improved seedlings and the elimination of post harvest loses would increase incomes of farmers substantially and could lead to a doubling of Ghana’s per capital income to $1,000 in the next ten years.

President Kufuor made the declaration during a briefing on the expected impact of the MCA for the Ghanaian media and opinion leaders in the UK on his way back from the signing of the compact in the USA.

Dignitaries present at the briefing were Hon. Kwamena Bartels, Minister for Information and National Orientation; Mr. Annan Cato, Ghana High Commissioner to the UK; Ambassador D.K. Osei, Secretary to the President and Mr. Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to the President .

With a focus on the five priority areas and prudent management, President Kufuor said his government had managed to transform the sluggish growth experienced at the onset of the decade into a vibrant and booming economy which had now reached the threshold of middle income status.

From a GDP growth rate of 3.7% in 2001, President Kufuor said the Ghanaian economy had grown consistently during his administration to 5.8% posted last year, adding that the growth rate for the current year would have exceeded 7% but for the rocketing prices of crude oil on the world market.

President Kufuor said the recognition of the international community for the positive achievements made by the country over the past few years was amply reflected by the country’s invitation to high profile events like G8 meetings, cancellation of Ghana’s debt to multi-lateral organisations and stressed that the signing of the compact ‘was a testimony to the world that Ghana was the new destination for business.

The President said feasibility studies had shown that 700,000 direct and 1,300,000 indirect jobs would be generated through the implementation of the facility. In addition, the compact facility would provide the mechanism for the production of some of the commodities that Ghana was entitled to export duty-free to the US market under the ‘African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA).

President Kufuor called for discipline, faithfulness, competence, support and goodwill on the part of all Ghanaians to enable the country to successfully implement the compact within the five years allotted for the facility.

He thanked Ghanaians in the Diaspora for their remittances to Ghana which was expected to reach $8b this year and urged them to take advantage of investment opportunities like the offshore banking which would be introduced by Barclays Bank, Ghana later in the year.

The President urged Ghanaians domiciled abroad to bring their experiences to bear on the implementation of the MCA particularly in developing the requisite framework to enable the country to achieve its objectives under the scheme.

‘You must help us to evolve the culture of efficiency that you have acquired to enable us develop a transparent and accountable system for Ghana to derive the maximum benefits from the compact’ said the President.

Opening the discussions, Hon. Kwamena Bartels observed that the requirements drawn up by President Bush in 2002 for prospective beneficiaries of the facility, coincided with the priority areas identified earlier by President Kufuor under the Ghana Growth and Poverty Reduction programme.

He said Ghana, one of the 66 countries which applied for the compact, passed all 48 policy criteria required by the Millennium Challenge Corporation and stressed that the $547m allocated to Ghana constituted a quarter of the overall total of $2.1b earmarked by the US government for the project.

The Minister stated that all 23 districts selected to benefit under the scheme in Ghana, had shown rapid and significant returns on investments and revealed that the funds would be invested in modernising agriculture, improve transportation network as well as rural and social development.

On his part, Mr. Awuni said it was incumbent on all Ghanaians, at both home and abroad, to work hard to keep the image of Ghana soaring and should never again allow the country to slide back to the inertia and fear of the past.

High Commissioner Annan Cato saw the signing of the MCA as a reflection of the endorsement of the developed world for the development agenda of the government especially for its adherence to the rule of law and respect for human rights.