EBID is Committed to Developing Judicial Infrastructure and Capacity Building in ECOWAS Member States
As part of its programme of extending development support to frontline public service sectors in the sub region such as the judiciary, the President of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), Dr. George Agyekum Donkor, informed the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, His Lordship Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, of the commitment of EBID to fast track the mobilization of concessionary resources in concert with EBID partners to assist the development of the judiciary infrastructure.
Dr. Donkor made the remarks at a joint press conference held with His Lordship Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, on Monday, 3rd August 2020 in Accra at the Conference Hall of the Supreme Court. The meeting was also attended by the Honourable Mr. Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, a Supreme Court Judge, and the Deputy Judicial Secretary, His Honour Samuel Boakey-Yiadom.
Dr. Donkor, led a delegation of Senior management of the Bank to pay a courtesy call on his Lordship the Chief Justice. He pointed out that a strong and well equipped judiciary was essential to attract and consolidate investment flows into the region since one of the factors that impact on the choice or credibility of an investment location was the vibrancy of judicial service. In this regard, he emphasized the need for a strong collaboration between the Judiciary and the Bank. Dr Donkor further informed Justice Anin-Yeboah that barring travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, he planned to visit all Chief Justices in ECOWAS Member States within the framework of assisting capacity building and supporting infrastructure development. Citing the advantage of a strong judiciary to the financial sector, Dr. Donkor indicated that borrowers and lenders would take their commitments very seriously knowing that the Judiciary was equipped to dispense justice in good time over any case of defaulting stakeholders.
Responding to the address by the President of EBID, Justice Anin-Yeboah indicated that Judicial infrastructure had not evolved since 2000 even though such facilities constituted vital support to the rule of law. He, therefore, urged EBID to assist the Judiciary in the same way that it supports other sectors since the Judiciary was not a profit-making organization. Specifically, Justice Anin-Yeboah requested the Bank to assist in developing the Judicial Training Institute which he described as crucial for the training of Judges and other Judicial staff.
ABOUT EBID
The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) is the financial arm of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) comprising fifteen (15) Member States namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The headquarters of EBID is in Lome, Republic of Togo.
The Bank is committed to financing development projects and programs in the aeras of infrastructure, transport, energy, telecommunications; agriculture and rural development; social sector; industry; services (financial services, financial engineering, hotels/tourism, etc.) EBID intervenes through long, medium and short term loans, equity participation, granting of lines of credit and putting in place framework agreements for refinancing, financial engineering operations and services.
From 2001, the Bank has approved funding for about two hundred and ninety-eight (298) projects in the various sectors of the ECOWAS region corresponding to about two billion eight hundred and forty million United States dollars (US$2.84 billion).
