The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) has offered 2.5million dollars to support the corporate workplan of the Ministry of Private Sector Development and President?s Special Initiatives designed to boost the growth the of the private sector in the country.

The Danish Ambassador, Mr Fleming Bjerk Pederse said this when he paid a courtesy call on the sector Minister, Mr Kwamena Bartels, last Tuesday. He said that the partnership between the government and private partnership would lead to the creation of more jobs, besides expanding the revenue base of the government.

Mr Pederse said that for Ghana to attain middle income status, it had to meet the challenge of exceeding the current economic growth rate of five per cent.

On his part, Mr Bartels thanked the Danish Government for its support to the growth of the private sector. He stated that the Ministry, in collaboration with the Trade and Finance ministries, was discussing with Bank of Ghana to encourage commercial banks to fix their lending rates at accessible levels for private sector in order to achieve the required growth.

He noted that ?the current lending rates of about 32 per cent is comparatively unfavorable to that of the other countries in the sub-region and does not augur well for the local businessman.?

In a related development, the new Chief Executive Officer of Unilever Ghana, Mr Charles Cofie, also paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Private Sector Development. He said Unilever would invest in three strategic areas to reinforce its position on the market.

Mr Cofie said? Unilever will invest ?50 billion this year in equipment to ensure that it continues to produce high quality products at the lowest cost to the consumer.?

He said ?48 billion had been set aside for research into consumer behaviour to ensure that its products met consumer needs.