After a two-day working trip across the Central Region, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has vowed to revive the Ghanaian economy by the end of 2024.
Despite the difficult obstacles, President Akufo-Addo declared that the administration will continue to implement crucial fiscal and economic measures to promote development and prosperity sooner than anticipated.
After inheriting an economy with the lowest growth rate in the Fourth Republic of Ghana, President Akufo-Addo said his administration had a history of setting up Ghana to become one of the fastest rising economies in the world.
President Akufo-Addo insisted that the COVID-19 epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict were to blame for the country’s economic difficulties in a media interview while on tour.
Among them, he added, were price pressures on both food and non-food items, which caused the country’s inflation to jump for the eleventh straight month from 29.8 percent in June to 31.7 percent in July 2022.
According to President Akufo-Addo, those who minimized or refused to accept the economic effects of the two catastrophes on Ghana were acting dishonestly in order to further their political ambitions.
He noted that the price of crude oil, for instance, had sharply increased to $100 per barrel this year, an increase of between 60 and 70% over Ghana’s initial budgetary allocation for the commodity.
The cost of shipping had tripled, and Ghana was being impacted by global inflationary pressures on other economies as well.
“Nevertheless, the issue is not that you are in difficulty alone. We all face difficulties in our lives but the issue is how resolved you are to get out of it and that is what my government is concerned with now,” he said.
“I am very determined that by the time I leave office on the 7th of January, 2025, the economy of Ghana will be back again in a strong place, because that is the way I’m going to be able to help my party break the eight.”
The President pointed out that while Ghana’s involvement with the IMF was essential in the near term, it was not a magic cure for the nation’s economic problems because Ghana could take many steps on its own to restore the economy.
Between Friday, September 2 and Saturday, September 3, President Akufo-Addo traveled to seven constituencies in the Central Region, cutting the sod for new projects, inspecting current ones, and commissioning finished ones. His journey began with a radio interview at Kasoa.
At every stop, the President received a rousing welcome by the people, including party supporters, carrying placards with the inscription: “God bless Akufo-Addo, a good father of the nation”, “No more dumsor, this is a visionary leadership”, “Nana Guy Guy”, “Nana Show boy”, “Thank you for bringing our factory back” among others.
His popular phrase; “fellow Ghanaians” sparked spontaneous cheers and jubilation anytime he mounted the podium to speak.
Some of the projects he worked on included cutting the sod for the 16-kilometer Kasoa-Bawjiase Road, commissioning the One District One Factory’s APPEB Cylinder Manufacturing Company at Awutu Chochoe and the Rikpat Lube MFG Limited at Gomoa Fetteh Junction, inspecting a hospital project at Gomao Afransi, the Komenda Sugar Factory’s rehabilitation work, and the 90.5 percent finished Elmin
Critical government initiatives like Planting for Food and Jobs, Free Senior High School, and the 1D1F would not be impacted by the IMF conditions, according to President Akufo-Addo.
He said that because those measures were put in place between 2017 and 2019, when Ghana was already a participant in an IMF program, they would protect against being sacrificed under future IMF programs.
“Already there is an understanding on the part of the Fund that these initiatives are great and so they will not tamper with them,” he said.
“I am very confident that by the end, the arrangements we will make with the Fund will improve our public expenditure and we’ll get value for our money.”
