Ghana’s economy designed to benefit a privileged few – Togbe Afede XIV

The Paramount Chief of Asogli, Togbe Afede XIV has stated that Ghana’s economy has been designed to benefit a privileged few.

The businessman catalogued a number of factors that contribute to how the economy has been designed at the disadvantage of the majority of Ghanaians.

“Very alarming, as I wrote in my December 2022 article, is the fact that we have piled on so much debt, and are now Africa’s most indebted country, yet we still lack the basic socio-economic infrastructure required for development – good roads, hospitals, schools, etc. Making matters worse, are the massive judgment debts, the results of greed and recklessness, staring us in the face.

“The dollar had been on the loose, gaining almost 200% over the cedi since 2017. The cedi is still under pressure notwithstanding our positive trade surplus in recent times. Total exports at the end of October 2023 stood at USD13.4 billion. Compared to total imports value of USD11.3 billion, the result was a positive trade balance of about USD2.1 billion,” Togbe Afede XIV stated in his latest opinion piece on Ghana’s economy among other issues.

According to him, Ghana’s inflation is still high coupled with business failures and joblessness among the Ghana people.

“Inflation, as I have already said, is still high, at 26.4%, and business failures, joblessness and poverty levels are worse than ever. That is why too many of our younger compatriots are desperately on the look out for ways out of our potentially rich but poor country.

“We are victims of predatory economics, where policies or decisions were presented to us well-packaged, only for us to realise during implementation that they were designed to benefit a privileged few, as we saw with some of the COVID-19 initiatives and in the ill-fated award of Electricity Company of Ghana to PDS Ghana Ltd.

"We are also victims of a constitution that protects even our worst leaders. The result is the annoying and arrogant display of “conspicuous consumption” by our leaders and their cronies,” he stated.