Founding President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has told President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to invest the money that has been made from the debt agreements that have been reached. The president has highlighted significant economic strides and the resilience shown by Ghanaians in overcoming recent global adversities. “In the face of these adversities, Ghana
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Founding President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has told President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to invest the money that has been made from the debt agreements that have been reached.
The president has highlighted significant economic strides and the resilience shown by Ghanaians in overcoming recent global adversities.
“In the face of these adversities, Ghana has shown remarkable resilience,” President Akufo-Addo declared. “We have embarked on a comprehensive strategy to revive our economy, and I am pleased to note that our efforts are bearing fruit.”
The President cited an impressive growth rate of 4.7% in the first quarter of 2024, surpassing the IMF’s forecast of 3.1%. This growth, driven by the industrial sector’s 6.8% expansion and a 4.1% rise in the agricultural sector, underscores the effectiveness of the government’s economic policies. President Akufo-Addo also emphasized the significance of Ghana’s successful debt restructuring initiatives.
Economic recovery: ‘I told you we knew how to bring the economy back to life’ – Akufo-Addo
“We have completed three major debt restructuring operations,” he noted, highlighting the substantial relief achieved through domestic debt restructuring, external bilateral debt restructuring, and negotiations with commercial bondholders.
The domestic debt restructuring, which achieved a high participation rate of almost 95%, reduced coupon rates from 21% to 9% on average and extended maturities. This provided the government with much-needed breathing space and set the domestic debt-to-GDP ratio on a clear downward trend, expected to reach 55% by 2028.
The President also outlined the successful negotiations with external bilateral creditors, which resulted in a cash flow relief of approximately $2.8 billion. This relief, spanning from 2023 to 2026, allows the government to reallocate funds towards critical infrastructure and development projects that had been stalled due to financial constraints.
“Our economic recovery is strongly on course,” the President affirmed, attributing this progress to both governmental initiatives and the resilience of the Ghanaian people. He praised the collective effort and unyielding spirit demonstrated by Ghanaians during these challenging times.
The Ghana CARES ‘Obaatampa’ Programme, launched in 2021, continues to play a pivotal role in the nation’s economic strategy. This ambitious program focuses on supporting commercial farming, building the light manufacturing sector, developing engineering and ICT industries, fast-tracking digitalization, and creating jobs for young people.
“The Ghana CARES ‘Obaatampa’ Programme sets out our roadmap towards the strong revitalization of the Ghanaian economy,” President Akufo-Addo explained. “Each of you must help and contribute to the success of this programme, by facilitating, amongst other things, as much foreign investment into the country as you can.”
President Akufo-Addo added that “If you will recollect, I did say, at the height of the pandemic, that we knew how to bring the economy back to life, but did not know how to bring people back to life,” President Akufo-Addo reminded the audience.
“This remark was made to justify the extraordinary expenditures that Government was forced to make during the pandemic to afford relief and protection to the population. I believe, in all humility, that the nation is today appreciative of the validity of my statement, as our economic recovery is strongly on course.”
Commenting on this in a Facebook post, Mr Franklin Cudjoe said “Yes, but for how long and at what cost? You literally forcibly pickpocketed our savings after promising not to do so just so you could bùy time from external creditors to postpone paying the humongous debts yoù contracted for mostly vanity projects until 2026 when you are no longer in power. No other Ghanaian leader and African leader in recent times ever invaded citizens’ savings as a result of supervising wretched macroeconomic governance and ecological suicide through Galamsey. Certainly, not condemning nearly a million of its own citizens, mothers, fathers and children into deeper poverty.
“Not even President Ruto of Kenya whose country spends a third of their GDP in debt servicing but still facing turmoil over taxes ever did this. In fact, he just concluded paying $ 2bn debt his predecessor left. My advice is simply this, please invest some of the nearly $4bn savings made solely because you wouldn’t have to pay debts you scrambled for until 2026 in only growth- multipliers and the rest in a sinking fund to help your innocent successor, in case it is not Bawumia to breath a little from what has truly been a fiscally reckless journey.
“The next IMF visit is imminent unless the next government reduces overall expenditure by at least 40% and embark on freeing the private sector and all individuals from the many vampire taxes and charges. This alone will partially encourage real investment in many parts of Ghana so our young girls from the North wouldn’t have to flock to the South to be head porters ( Kayayos) and cause opportunistic politicking in organising election ‘colleges’ for them to graduate in ‘short courses’ with unavailable demand for their produce due to the harsh economy.”
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