AfDB sanctions Ghana over non-payment of debts – Bawumia

Vice Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has alleged that Ghana has been sanctioned by the African Development Bank (AFDB) for non-payment of debt obligations.

The development, according to him, means that signature of new AFDB loan agreements, disbursement on all AFDB on-going projects and the granting of new loans have been suspended until the situation is resolved. The sanction, he claims, has been in effect since January this year.

“It would also interest you to know that Ghana has recently been sanctioned by the African Development Bank (AfDB) for non-payment of debt obligations due. This sanction means that signature of new AfDB loan agreements, disbursements on all AfDB on-going projects and the granting of any new loans have been suspended until the situation is rectified.

“In this regard, Ghana regrettably joins an exclusive list of nations currently under AfDB sanctions. The other countries are Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Djibouti. Ghana’s arrears on its AfDB debt obligations only serves to emphasize the pressure on government cash reserves as well as the poor debt management.

“You cannot treat external debt obligations in the same way as you treat your obligations to the NHIS, DACF, GETFUND or Road Fund” the former deputy governor of the Central bank said during a lecture at the Central University College.

Dr Bawumia has said that investment into infrastructural development has declined under the Mahama administration.

According to him, contrary to claims by the government that more capital investment is being made into infrastructural development such as roads and schools, the reality on the ground suggests the opposite.

“Contrary to all the government claims of an increase in infrastructure expenditure on projects all over the country, the reality is that Ghana’s expenditure on infrastructure is declining. The numbers indicate that relative to GDP, this government is investing about half what the previous government invested in infrastructure.

"It is in fact a travesty that Ghana before the discovery of oil was spending a higher proportion of its income on infrastructure investment than after the discovery of oil and the massive increase in the debt stock,” he noted as Visiting Professor of Economic Governance at the Central University College, Tuesday.