We’ll make Ghana Africa’s business hub - Bawumia

The Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia Saturday declared the mission of the Akufo-Addo government is to make Ghana the most successful and business friendly economy in Africa.

He said this before a large crowd of Diaspora at the Ghanaian High Commission in Washington, D.C. The event capped a week of high level meetings for a delegation of senior government officials who traveled to London and Washington, D.C. to present the government’s roadmap for revitalizing Ghana’s economy.

Traveling with the Vice President is a delegation that includes the Senior Minister, the Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, the CEO of GIPC, and the President’s Advisor for Media and Special Projects.

The team traveled to London on Tuesday and to Washington DC on Wednesday to meet with investors, bond holders, government officials, the Diaspora, and other key stakeholders. In addition to public events and meetings with US government officials, the delegation participated in 2017 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Throughout a series of public events and high level meetings, the delegation has delivered a consistent message—which is the government will control the debt and get Ghana working again.

Toward the end of last year, investors and the international community were expressing concerns over Ghana’s debt profile, which ballooned from $9.5B in 2008 to $122B in 2016.

In several engagements this past week, the delegation emphasized that an immediate focus for the Akufo-Addo administration is to restructure the country’s existing debt away from the current short term, high interest loans to longer term, lower interest loans that will save Ghanaian tax payers money.

International investors demonstrated their confidence in this government’s strategy two weeks ago when they flocked to purchase $2.25billion in cedi denominated bonds which would be used as part of the re-profiling to replace the more expensive debt with less expensive debt.

The Vice President and Minister of Finance have been articulating the government’s plan to increase revenue by fighting corruption, erasing ghost workers from the payroll, lowering taxes, addressing the energy crisis and creating an environment that is conducive to investment.

The team has also laid out plans to improve the country’s infrastructure, increase efficiency at the ports, and establish a national ID and address system. The trip comes on the heels of the introduction of the government’s first budget, which delivered on campaign promises such as free SHS, $1 million in development funds for each district, and expanded agriculture investments that will create jobs for the youth.

The delegation will depart Washington on Monday for New York, where they will continue to meet with investors, bond holders and members of the Diaspora. They will return to Accra on Tuesday.