The President of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), Mr. George Agyekum Donkor, PhD, visited the site of a EBID-funded private sector construction project, garden city Mall Limited.

The project aims to boost economic activities and job creation opportunities for the Ghanaian population. He also paid a courtesy call to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Manhyia Palace.

The Garden City Mall project involves the construction of a shopping mall and other rental infrastructure, including banks, hospitals, etc. The project stands out in particular for its privileged and strategic location near the Suame roundabout in Kumasi, as well as for the remarkable aesthetic beauty of its design, which brought it the added value of an architectural and structural masterpiece in the region.

The objective of the EBID President's working visit is to take stock of the progress of the project, the challenges resulting from the months of confinement due to COVID-19, and to propose an immediate solution, together with the promoters of Garden City Mall Ltd.

The EBID President considered that the progress made by the project was both significant and significant, and indicated that it was in line with EBID's development agenda. He expressed the Bank's gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu
II, for their support of the project.

Finally, Mr. George Agyekum Donkor recalled that to date, all fifteen (15) ECOWAS Member States have benefited from EBID funding for numerous private and public sector projects, amounting to two billion nine hundred million US dollars (USD 2.9 billion).

The Managing Director of Garden City Mall Ltd, Mr. Alex Bruks, informed journalists that the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) is the first financial institution to have granted a loan under this project. The project, which has a 75% completion rate, is expected to be commissioned in September 2021.

At the end of the tour to the Garden City Mall project site, EBID President Donkor, PhD, accompanied by the EBID delegation, paid a courtesy call to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at Manhiya Palace, Kumasi.

Asantehene warmly congratulated the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) for its support for the Garden City project and in particular for its efforts in all Member States, and encouraged EBID to work with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to ensure that the continent reaches the expected levels of development. He also urged Mr. Donkor to continue to strengthen harmony among ecowas member states.

ABOUT EBID

The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) is the financial arm of the Economic Community of West African States which comprises fifteen (15) Member States which are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. EBID's headquarters are in Lomé, Republic of Togo.

The Bank's mission is to finance development projects and programs in the fields of infrastructure, transport, energy, telecommunications, agriculture and rural development, the social sector, industry and services (financial services, financial engineering, hospitality/tourism, etc.).

EBID's interventions are as follows: the granting of long-, medium- and short-term loans, equity investments, the granting of credit lines and the establishment of framework agreements for refinancing, and financial engineering operations and services.

Since 2001, the Bank has approved the financing of approximately two hundred and ninety-eight (298) projects in the various sectors of the ECOWAS region, corresponding to approximately two billion eight hundred and forty million US dollars (USD 2.84 billion).