The U.S government has announced that its Department of Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) will send a full-time resident advisor to assist the Ministry of Finance in its debt restructuring exercise.

The advisor will also develop and execute medium-to-long-term reforms needed to improve debt sustainability, support a competitive, dynamic government debt market.

This was announced after the arrival of the Vice President of the USA, Kamala Harris, in Ghana on Sunday, March 26.

The assistance, according to the U.S government will complement and build on the Government of Ghana’s debt restructuring efforts.

The Vice President Kamala D. Harris announced that the US Administration intends to invest more than $100 million to support conflict prevention and stabilization efforts in Coastal West Africa.

This will include at least $86 million in funding over three years specifically dedicated to the implementation of the new 10-year plan.

The plan is intended to address regional threats of violent extremism and instability in Coastal West Africa and enable the U.S. Government to work with Congress to marshal additional assistance to support efforts in the region over the coming years.

For 2023, OTA will execute 25 projects in 15 African countries. This includes eight new projects in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Zambia.

The projects will focus on revenue policy and administration; budget and financial accountability; government debt issuance and infrastructure financing; banking and financial services; and economic crimes.

To further support Ghana’s debt management, USAID is funding fellowships for a team of ten specialists to work within the Ministry of Finance.

They will provide surge support for a two-year period. The Fellows are all young, qualified Ghanaians and recent university graduates.