Catherine Afeku
The World Bank has approved a facility of $40 million to support efforts by the government of Ghana to develop the leisure tourism industry.
In a justification for the loan, the bank, in a Project Appraisal Document published on its website, said, “Despite (the tourism sector’s) assets and potential demand, a near absence of public sector strategic intervention and resources had collectively contributed to the sector’s low competitiveness.”
“The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to improve the performance of tourism in targeted destinations in Ghana, which will, in turn trigger economic transformation through jobs, local enterprise and investment, all of which depend on how many tourists visit, how much time they spend in the country, how much they spend and what they do in the destination,” the bank said.
The facility’s ultimate purpose, therefore, is to induce an increase in foreign exchange earnings related to an increase in the volume of international tourist arrivals.
Toward this end, the facility has been structured to enable the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, in collaboration with the relevant ministries and agencies, to initiate long overdue changes in such sectors as Aviation and Immigration, whose activities have a direct bearing on the fortunes of the tourism industry.
It’s the first such facility by the World Bank to the tourism, arts and culture sector in the history of Ghana’s relations with the Bretton Wood institution.
The project has four main components, namely strengthening tourism enabling environment ($15 million), developing tourism sites and destinations ($15 million), tourism enterprise support program ($5.0 million) and project management ($5.0 million).
The Ministry estimates that at least, 2,500 people need to be trained annually to fill the gap of 10,500 receptionists, housekeeping and restaurant staff required to cope with the demand growth.
Given the opportunity to develop their skills, the most disadvantaged workers can move beyond insecurity into more stable, higher-paid employment.
With $15 million for developing tourism sites and destinations, the most promising destination areas identified under the programme will be upgraded.
The support will include signage, fencing and railings, last-mile water and electricity provision, sewerage, drainage, street lights, toilets, solid waste management, jetties and walkways for primary public sites.
The loan allocates $5 million for a Tourism Enterprise Support Programme.
The allocation is “premised on the fact that SMEs form the backbone of the economy in Ghana, but they often struggle with market knowledge and links, formalization, technology and other skills.”
The component’s objective, therefore, is to provide tourism SMEs with the opportunity to improve their business planning, formalize their businesses and apply for matching grants to upgrade their products and services.
This programme will also target women-owned SMEs.
Justifying the $4 million for tourism marketing, promotion branding and digital marketing, the bank lamented the anemia of government finds for the purpose, citing the contrast between Senegal, which spends upward of $3.5 million and Ghana, whose marketing budget is a meagre $275,000.