GHACHIFA urges China to consider Finance Minister's appeal

The Ghana China Friendship Association (GHACHIFA) on Saturday urged China to consider the call by Ghana's Minister of Finance for China to write off debts owed it by African countries.

This is because COVID-19 has shifted the socio-economic development plan of developing countries and this is bound to negatively affect the livelihoods of millions of Africans.

Dr Benjamin Anyagre, General Secretary of GHACHIFA, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that any debt relief could open a new page on the way forward, with regards to the specific content of agreement.

He observed that in the past, many agreements backed by sovereign guarantees were gripped with greed and massive corruption, which eroded fiscal capital needed to complete projects on specified standards.

Dr Anyagre said the interest based content of any signed agreement should put country first and not the interest of individuals presiding over such contracts.

"On the win-win principles of the Chinese government, it is time for Africans to develop experts in the field of doing business with China to ensure healthy outcomes," he said.

Dr Anyagre observed that one of the greatest pillars of the success of China through ages of backwardness to a five star nation, was the consistent fight against corruption.

He said it was therefore important to ensure, that the citizenry enjoyed the South-South benefits of agreements reached with state sovereign guarantees.

Africa's debt to China is estimated at about 145 billion dollars, with eight billion required to be paid in this year, 2020.

Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, recently called on China to ease the debt burden of African countries, to help deal with the high cost of the Coronavirus pandemic.