The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has organised a signing ceremony of the Grant Agreement for the “Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS)”.

Senior Vice President of JICA, Mr. Ando Naoki signed the grant agreement with the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Abena Osei-Asare in Accra.

The project aims to support human resource development in Ghana, targeting highly capable, young government officials who are expected to engage in formulating and implementing social and economic development plans, and become leaders in the country.

From Japan’s experience of past development, JICA believes that the human resource is the most important asset of the country and the driving force of development. Based on this belief and concept, this program also offers the opportunity to learn about Japan’s modernization and development experiences, which is unique and different from those of Western countries.

The participants will also learn about Japan’s contribution on the rapid development of Asian countries.  

The project originally started in 2012, and this is the tenth consecutive year that JICA is provided a grant to Ghana for this project. So far, 117 JDS fellows have been dispatched from Ghana to Japan under the project as of today and 91 of them graduated with degrees.

For this year, a total number of 13 participants will benefit from obtaining their master's and Doctorate degrees at prestigious Japanese universities in the area of Economics, Public Financial Management, Public Administration, Public Health and International Relations.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is an agency of the Japanese government responsible for supporting the socioeconomic development, recovery or economic stability of developing regions.

Since October 2008 which witnessed a merger between the existing Japan International Cooperation Agency and the overseas economic cooperation section of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), New JICA has been an integrated official agency with the three main development aid tools, including technical assistance, concessionary loans (Japanese ODA loans) and grant aid.

In Ghana, JICA is primarily focused on Quality Infrastructure for Economic Growth, Industrial and Agricultural Development, Universal Health Coverage and Capacity Development for Effective Public Service.