Can Ghana’s “Big Push” Learn from the GIIF Model?
Why the next $10 billion infrastructure drive must be built on governance, credibility, and confidence
When Ghana’s opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) unveiled its ambitious “Big Push – National Infrastructure Development Programme”, a US$10 billion plan to accelerate nationwide construction, it rekindled memories of an earlier era when bulldozers, cranes and asphalt plants defined economic optimism. But it also raised a more sober question for me: where will the money come from?
After three years of debt distress, IMF conditionalities and fiscal tightening, Ghana’s room to borrow is narrow. The era of easy Eurobond financing is over, at least for now. Any credible new infrastructure drive must therefore rely on creative financing mechanisms, ones that can mobilise private and institutional capital without over-burdening the public purse. Then I began to search to find how this project can be funded.
Fortunately, Ghana already has a proven example of how this can be done: the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF).
A Fund Born of Prudence, Not Populism
GIIF was not born from political fanfare. It was the product of quiet foresight under former President John Dramani Mahama, who in 2014 championed the creation of a special sovereign vehicle that would invest in infrastructure the way an institutional investor, not a politician, would. Parliament passed the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund Act 877 in July 2014, and GIIF officially commenced in the following year, February 2015, with Solomon Asamoah, a seasoned African development financier, as its first Chief Executive.
The goal was deceptively simple but revolutionary for Ghana: to build a state-owned fund that could attract and manage infrastructure investment commercially, free from the procurement distortions and political interference that had plagued public works for decades.
GIIF started operations with an initial US $250 million seed from the government, later boosted by US $75 million from the petroleum revenue (ABFA) allocations and an additional US $20 million top-up in 2021 for equity in the African Finance Corporation. The result: a solid US $345 million equity base, money that was fully owned by the state but managed like a private fund.
From day one, its design followed international development-finance principles: an independent board chaired by lawyer Philip Addison, an advisory committee led by the Minister of Finance and including the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the National Development Planning Commission, and two private-sector members (one female). The Act made it clear: GIIF was to operate as a permanent investment vehicle, not a political project-implementing agency.
How the Model Works
After going through the documents and reports of GIFF, I was convinced of GIIF’s structure, which allows it to provide debt, equity, or mezzanine finance to commercially viable infrastructure ventures as the best. It does not give out grants; it invests for a return. In this way, the Fund preserves capital while crowding in private investors who see government participation as a risk-reducing anchor.
In less than a decade, GIIF has committed US $342 million across 13 projects spanning transport, energy, ICT, mining, hospitality and housing, mobilising a total project value of over US $3.5 billion. That represents roughly a 10-to-1 leverage ratio, meaning every dollar from GIIF attracts nine more from private or development partners.
Its portfolio includes familiar national assets:
- Kotoka International Airport Terminal 3 and regional airports, financed through GACL with repayments ring-fenced via IATA;
- the Takoradi Port On-Dock Terminal and Oil Jetty, vital for bulk cargo and petroleum imports;
- the Western Corridor Fibre-Optic Backbone linking oilfields, mines and telecom hubs;
- the Pullman Airport City Hotel and Maaha Beach Resort;
- Atuabo and Rotan Power Projects in the energy sector;
- and an equity stake in Asante Gold Corporation, marking the Fund’s move into resource-backed diversification.
Crucially, none of these depend on sovereign guarantees. As GIIF’s latest 2023 report notes, the Fund’s portfolio “is not exposed to Ghana’s sovereign risk… payments come directly from airlines, shippers, telcos and miners.” That independence has proved critical amid debt-restructuring turmoil.
Governance = Confidence
The genius of the GIIF model lies in its governance architecture. Its board operates on commercial standards, approving deals through rigorous due diligence. Project proposals are screened for viability, foreign-exchange resilience, and environmental & social (E&S) compliance. As a result, international development financiers have been willing to lend directly to the Fund without sovereign guarantees, an extraordinary endorsement in a time when Ghana itself could not access the Eurobond market.
In 2021, the French Development Agency (AFD) granted GIIF a US$85 million ten-year credit line, accompanied by a technical-assistance grant to strengthen climate and gender policies.
A year later, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a US$75 million senior loan after subjecting the Fund to a thorough institutional audit. Both lines are being drawn to finance climate-aligned and social projects through on-lending.
These two facilities mark a first in Ghana’s public-finance history: a state-owned entity raising long-tenor foreign debt without any government guarantee. The reason it worked is trust; trust built on governance discipline and transparency.
GIIF’s 2023 accounts tell the story: net return 7.8 % on opening assets and 8.7 % gross investment return, despite a volatile macro environment. Even more telling, every loan repayment due from the Ghana Airports Company arrived on schedule.
Lessons for the “Big Push”
The Big Push is bold in ambition: completing abandoned projects, expanding water systems, building multi-purpose dams, reviving rail lines from Elubo to Hamile and rolling out orbital motorways around major cities. If executed well, it could transform Ghana’s infrastructure footprint and unlock jobs across construction, logistics and manufacturing.
But its biggest hurdle is financing credibility. After the IMF programme, international markets will not easily absorb another round of sovereign borrowing. Domestic banks, constrained by recapitalisation needs after the Domestic Debt Exchange, have little appetite for large, long-tenor exposure. The solution, therefore, lies in building on what already works, which is the GIIF model.
Rather than creating new ad-hoc project authorities, the government can revamp and capitalise GIIF as the central investment vehicle for the Big Push.
Here’s how:
- Blend Public and Private Capital – GIIF can issue infrastructure bonds or “Big Push Notes” backed by its performing portfolio, with partial guarantees from DFIs. Such bonds, if listed on the Ghana Fixed Income Market, could attract pension and insurance funds looking for stable long-term returns.
- Ring-Fence Sub-Funds for Priority Sectors – GIIF has already piloted this through H-GIIF (for the Agenda 111 hospitals) and A.T. Expressway Ltd (for the Accra–Tema Motorway PPP). Replicating this model for water, rail and renewable energy would allow each sub-fund to raise its own capital, managed under the parent’s governance standards.
- Co-Invest with the Private Sector – The Fund’s 63 % debt and 37 % equity mix shows it can be both lender and shareholder. By taking minority equity positions in PPPs, GIIF can de-risk projects and attract global operators who otherwise shy away from Ghana’s political cycles.
- Leverage DFI Partnerships – The AFD and AfDB relationships can be expanded. AFD’s climate-finance window and AfDB’s Africa50 platform could together provide catalytic funds. Government can negotiate additional credit lines through GIIF rather than the Treasury, keeping borrowing off the public balance sheet.
- Institutionalise Project Preparation – One of Ghana’s chronic problems is poor project design, leading to cost overruns. GIIF’s due-diligence culture can be used to establish a Project Development Facility to ensure every Big Push project meets bankability tests before a single shovel hits the ground.
Why Governance Matters More Than Money
For most citizens, governance sounds abstract, but it determines whether a project gets built at all.
GIIF’s rules force politicians to behave like investors: they must present feasibility studies, secure revenue models, and meet repayment schedules. By contrast, many “flagship projects” in Ghana’s past, whether stadiums, flyovers or regional hospitals, were financed by short-term political will rather than sustainable cash flows.
If the government adopts GIIF’s governance template for the Big Push, it will not only mobilise capital; it will rebuild market confidence in Ghana’s capacity to deliver. Investors and lenders watch governance indicators more than slogans. They study audit reports, repayment discipline and board independence.
The evidence is clear: while sovereign spreads on Ghana’s Eurobonds remain high, GIIF has been able to borrow below the sovereign rate because of its clean record. That credibility is an asset the state should not squander.
The Confidence Multiplier
Confidence has economic value. When investors believe a country can govern its projects well, they price risk lower; when they don’t, they charge a premium or stay away.
By extending GIIF’s model across ministries and metropolitan authorities, Ghana can lower the cost of capital for public works.
Imagine each major corridor, Eastern, Western, Northern, runs through a GIIF-structured Special Purpose Vehicle, audited annually, with transparent cash-flow projections and independent boards. Domestic pension funds, which collectively hold over GH₵ 45 billion, could invest directly through these vehicles instead of short-term treasury bills.
That is how Kenya’s Infrastructure Bond and Nigeria’s Sovereign Investment Authority have channelled local savings into roads, power and healthcare without breaching debt limits.
From Political Projects to National Assets
Another lesson from GIIF is continuity. Its investments have survived two political transitions because they were structured as commercial contracts, not manifesto promises. The Western Corridor Fibre project or the Maaha Resort continue to operate regardless of which party governs.
The Big Push must emulate this depoliticisation if it is to succeed. Every cedi borrowed should build an asset that can outlive administrations, generate cash flow, and repay itself.
To achieve that, the next government, whoever leads, must treat GIIF not as an agency to be replaced but as a national institution to be scaled up.
Challenges Ahead
Scaling GIIF to a US$10 billion infrastructure drive is not without hurdles. Let’s tackle two or three of them, which we believe, if that can be tackled, can create jobs and help the government to use it as a vehicle to help its Big Push agenda. The first one to look at is the Capacity of GIIF, which currently runs a lean team of fewer than 40 staff. Expanding deal origination, monitoring, and E&S compliance will require new talent and digital systems. Another one is what I call the Pipeline Discipline is for us a political temptation to rush projects before elections must be resisted; the Fund’s strength is patient capital.
Also, it’s important to look at the Currency Risk here, we believe that while most GIIF revenues are in USD, local contractors still face cedi volatility. Future projects must build natural hedges, local raw materials, export-linked revenues, or indexed tariffs.
The Broader Payoff
If managed well, the Big Push could achieve far more than new roads and rails.
It could signal Ghana’s evolution from debt-driven infrastructure to investment-driven development. It could also catalyse domestic industries, cement, steel, logistics, and professional services, creating thousands of skilled jobs.
GIIF’s 2023 portfolio alone is estimated to support 13,800 direct jobs across sectors; a scaled-up version under the Big Push could multiply that by thirty.
Moreover, every successfully executed project reinforces Ghana’s brand in the global capital markets. The next time Accra seeks to issue a sovereign or municipal bond, investors will remember that a Ghanaian institution once borrowed on its own merits and delivered.
A Call for Pragmatism, Not Populism
Infrastructure drives prosperity, but financing it requires trust. The GIIF story proves that Ghana can build that trust. It demonstrates that even within a challenged macroeconomy, good governance can attract capital when political slogans cannot. If the Big Push is to avoid becoming another pile of ambitious blueprints, it must draw from this model.
Let the government seat GIIF at the centre of its planning table, not as an afterthought but as the engine room of implementation.
Let every project, from the Ho water system to the Kumasi light rail, pass through the same scrutiny GIIF applies to a port or a hotel.
Let the public see not only cranes and concrete, but contracts that make financial sense.
Ghana does not lack ideas or engineers; it lacks structured confidence. By scaling up GIIF’s governance discipline and market reputation, the country can finance the Big Push not with what others will say is reckless borrowing, as was done by other governments, but with renewed credibility.
That, ultimately, would be the biggest infrastructure of all, the rebuilding of trust in Ghana’s ability to do big things well.
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