President John Mahama has expressed gratitude to Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, for the restoration of the Yen Loan Portfolio, which was cancelled in the year 2000.

Mahama was also pleased that the Government of Japan has agreed to finance at the cost of ¥11.2 billion, “our request for a new bridge over the Volta River, which is part of our eastern corridor road network.”

Below is the full statement of the President’s remarks on his Facebook platform.

I have been in Japan over the last three days, and I am happy to convey on behalf of my countrymen and women, our appreciation to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the people of Japan for the restoration of the Yen Loan Portfolio, which was cancelled in the year 2000.

Following our discussions, the Government of Japan has agreed to finance at the cost of ¥11.2 billion, our request for a new bridge over the Volta River, which is part of our eastern corridor road network and will be critical in improving transportation between the Northern part of Ghana and the South.

Japan is also financing the construction of the second phase of the Sekondi Fishing Harbor project, and a ¥2.3 billion Advanced Research Centre for Infectious Diseases at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research at Legon.

More of our young people will also benefit from scholarships to study under the ABE Initiative. All these will contribute greatly to the expansion of our country’s infrastructure and human resource to boost further growth.

They also mean more new jobs in the near future, and more so, a transformational impact on our economy, with a significant multiplier effect.

Let us keep transforming Ghana!