Parliament approves €47million for Univ of Ghana Medical Centre

Parliament has approved credit and commercial facilities totaling €47 million to finance expansion works at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC).

The credit facility of €40.6 million is between the government and Bank Hapoalim B.M., while the commercial facility of €6.5 million is also between the government and Bank Hapoalim B.M.

The approval of the facilities on Monday July 16, 2018 followed the presentation of the report of the Finance Committee of Parliament, which recommended the approval.

Reading the report, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah, said the facilities were to fund the phase two of the UGMC project, which included the provision of strategic income generating services for short, medium and long-term sustainability of the hospital.

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He said it was a necessary complement to phase one as it targeted new clinical services and medical services that would give the UGMC a competitive edge over other hospitals in the country as well as the sub-region.

"The credit facilities for phase two are both critical and complementary in mobilising additional resources to address the critical gaps in the operations and sustainability of the UGMC and for the completion of the UGMC project", he said.

Dr Assibey-Yeboah said presently, additional medical facilities and specialised medical departments and services were needed for the attainment of international accreditation standards of a quaternary level hospital, as well as to enhance the sustainability and operational effectiveness of the hospital.

Terms of the loans

The credit facility of €40.6 million has a commitment fee of 0.60 per cent per annum, arrangement fee of 0.8 per cent flat of facility, two years grace period and 10 years repayment period.

The commercial facility of €6.5 million has a commitment fee of 0.6 per cent per annum , arrangement fee of 0.8 per cent flat of facility amount, one year grace period and four years repayment period.

Background

In 2012, Cabinet approved the establishment of the UGMC project, which involved the construction if a 67-bed capacity teaching and quaternary level hospital located within the University of Ghana, Legon.

A commercial contract was signed between the Ministry of Health on behalf of the government and Messrs Engineering Development Consultants (EDC) Limited of Israel for $184,740,001 for the project.

The phase one of the UGMC was completed in 2016 at a cost of $217 million, comprising construction cost of $184,740,001 and financing cost of $32.26 million.