$19bn Chinese loan will benefit China – ISODEC warns

The Integrated Social Development Center (ISODEC) has warned that Ghana risks losing more than it will benefit from the newly announced 19 billion dollar partnership with the Chinese government.

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia revealed after a four-day visit to China, that the Nana Addo-led government is partnering its counterpart in China for the implementation of the economic transformation agenda.

The funding partnership with China, Dr. Bawumia explained, is not based on the traditional model of borrowing and aid. The new model, he noted, is based on the bargaining power of the country’s natural resources such the 2.8 billion metric tonnes of iron ore deposits, 960 million metric tonnes of bauxite, 413 million metric tonnes of Manganese and not to mention Gold and Cocoa.

But the announcement of the 19 billion dollar partnership has sparked a massive reaction from a section of the public.

The Campaign Coordinator of ISODEC Dr Steve Manteaw told Starr News that the cost of the deal far outweighs the benefits.

“If you look at the IMF projections we are not really right in term of the outlook for the commodity sizes…and so to go in at this time to mortgage your natural resources for me is a risk that if we avoided will be better for Ghana.

“There is a lot to be considered in terms of what the benefit and the cost of this transaction…for me I think the cost outweigh the benefit.”

But the Director of the Centre for Asian Studies, University of Ghana, Dr. Lloyd Amoah has downplayed the doubts surrounding Ghana’s latest partnership with China.

“The resources, the new ideas in many ways has more or less shifted to the Asian region… China is stable, and that is what we want for a country like ours that is broke, backward and virtually on its knees, that is how we should think about this instead of this fear and doubt and skepticism.”