16 IMF bailouts 'senseless' – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says indiscipline in the management of the economy can no longer be entertained by those entrusted with the power to exercise Executive authority in Ghana.

Addressing the World Bank Vice President for Africa, Dr. Hafez Ghanem, at the Jubilee House, when he paid a courtesy call on him, the President said Ghana has had sixteen bailouts with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since her independence in 1957 and it has been so largely because of indiscipline on the side of those vested with the power to manage the economy.

“We have had sixteen bailouts programmes with the IMF since independence. It doesn’t make sense, largely because the discipline that we should have in the management of our public expenditure and the management of our public finances has not been there,” the President said.

Mr Akufo-Addo said the focus of the energies of his administration is to ensure total discipline in the management of the economy.

“We think that we can do it. We are thirty million people here with considerable resources in their natural form, and if we have the policy frame work and the policy options that we take are once that favour this process, we are looking at being within a decade, able to fashion a new self-sustaining economy, this is the economy we want to call the “Ghana Beyond Aid”, the President said.

Dr. Hafez Ghanem, in his remarks indicated that Ghana is playing a catalytic role on the African continent and the World Bank is looking forward to supporting Ghana to enhance its growth pattern on the continent. The World Bank, he says, agrees with the plan of Ghana to modernize its economy through industrialization.

The World Bank he added is looking forward to offering Ghana all the support she needs in her industrialization agenda. He commended government for the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme.

The World Bank he noted admires the effort of government aimed at educating the youth of the country. The World Bank he further noted, would be delighted and ready to help as much as they can to make the programme successful.

The World Bank’s Vice-President for Africa, Hafez Ghanem, is in Ghana on a three-day working visit. He is expected to participate in an African Civil Society Organisation and Parliamentary Dialogue Series, connecting 15 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. He will also launch the World Bank report, ‘Profiting from Parity – Unlocking the Potential of Women’s Businesses in Africa.’

Mr Ghanem will visit World Bank Group-funded projects in and outside Accra, including the Accra Digital Centre, and the Women in Agriculture Greenhouse Farming project and VegPro Farms, both at Akuse in the Eastern Region.

This is his first visit to Ghana since he was appointed to his current position in 2018.