Bussiness
IMF deal: What we need now is creditor coordination – Prof. Lord Mensah
Economist, Professor Lord Mensah, says Ghana has underplayed the complexity of its external creditors and how they stand.
According to him, the country has failed to appropriately coordinate its creditors in its pursuit for debt relief, thus causing the bottleneck that has bedeviled the process.
He has urged government to take opportunity of the ongoing IMF discussions in Washington, DC in the USA to get creditors equally up to speed on the Ghana situation and build confidence in the country’s debt restructuring policy.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express Business Edition, he noted that when this is achieved, it would help iron out the obstacles that have impeded Ghana’s IMF executive board approval.
“We have underplayed the complexity of our external creditors and how they stand. We look at the geographic locations of these external creditors, we’re looking at some of the conditions they gave us and how diverse they are – very, very important. What we need now as a country is what we call creditor coordination”.
“Creditor coordination [is] very very important to ensure that information about Ghana, information about negotiations are equal in front of all our creditors – very very important. And I’m anticipating that the spring meeting will provide that platform for which our officers will meet these creditors, one-on-one, meet them together talking about the Paris club, looking at the commercial lenders from the Eurobond market and then also the Chinese bloc,” he said.
Explaining the current situation, he noted that due to the lack of equal and clear information on Ghana’s debt problem for creditors, some amount of uncertainty and suspicion has been created.
This, Prof. Mensah believes can be handled if all creditors are brought to speed on Ghana’s debt restructuring plans.
“So China at one bloc, the Paris club is looking at ‘o fine, if we give Ghana that kind of debt relief, they’ll use the money to pay China.’ And China is also sitting somewhere looking ‘ok fine, if we go in to provide the debt relief, you know, the money will be used to pay these Paris club countries’.
“So effectively, there’s this kind of back and forth as far as the minds of the creditor space is concerned. And that is why I mentioned earlier that we need that kind of creditor coordination to ensure that they all come at the same level when it comes to information about how we want to go about this debt restructuring,” he said.
Source: www.myjoyonline.com
Bussiness
Ghana to host mining and minerals convention 2025 to shape future of gold industry
Ghana’s gold and minerals sector is set for a major spotlight as Meetings. Co, in partnership with key industry stakeholders, announces the Mining & Minerals Convention 2025, scheduled from August 26-27, 2025, at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, Accra.
Held under the theme “Shaping the Future of Ghana’s Gold Industry,”‘ the Convention will convene government leaders, regulators, miners, refiners, investors, sustainability partners, innovators, and responsible mining, and global competitiveness,policy experts to explore strategies that position Ghana’s gold industry for long-term growth.
The two-day convention will feature presidential and ministerial keynote addresses, industry thought leadership, technical paper presentations, policy dialogues, fireside chats, exhibitions, and high-level networking sessions.
Convention delegates can anticipate a dynamic and insightful experience, marked by thought leadership from leading policymakers and regulators, in-depth discussions on key topics such as sustainability, ESG, digital gold, and responsible sourcing, as well as valuable opportunities to forge public-private partnerships and investment deals.
Moreover, the event will offer practical action points aimed at unlocking greater economic value for Ghana.
The 2025 edition will be supported by a strong coalition of strategic partners, including the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Minerals Commission, GoldBod, the Minerals Income and Investment Fund (MIIF), and the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI).
Bussiness
Finance Minister tranfers funds to DACF, NHIS and GETFUND
The Minister for Finance Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson has disclosed that a sum of nine hundred and Eighty-Seven Million, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Five thousand and Seventy-Three Ghana Cedis (GHS987,965,073.00) from the Consolidated Fund into the District Assembly Common Fund Account, being the first quarter amount due to the DACF.
Furthermore, the Finance Minister informed the House that a total amount of Two Billion, Thirty- Three Million, Four Hundred and Sixty-Nine Thousand, Six Hundred and Seven Ghana Cedis (GHS2,033,469,607) has been disbursed to the National Health Insurance Fund.
While the Ghana Education Trust Fund has also received a total of Two Billion, Seven and Ten Million, Two Hundred and Twenty-Seven Ghana Cedis (GHS2,710,227,947.00) for the months January, February, March and April,2025.
The Finance Minister disclosed this in his statement to Parliament on the payments to statutory funds on the floor of the House.
In addition, he cautioned that the Administrator of the District Assembly Common Fund is required to ensure that 80% of this amount is transferred directly to the Assemblies without fail and expenditure returns submitted to the Ministry of Finance before subsequent releases will be made.
He added that Members are encouraged to monitor the utilization of these amounts sent to their respective Assemblies in line with the approved guidelines by Cabinet.
In his closing remark, Ato Forson said he’s going to take the concerns of the House seriously.
For his part, the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga made known the President’s prioritization of women in the country stating that President Mahama is “Pro-women”.
This is due to the fact that women are going to be the core beneficiaries from the expenditures going to be made by the MMDA’s, he added.
The Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin questioned the Finance Minister why road contractors have not been paid for more than five months. He said the Minister must not be applauded for since the allocation of these funds were long overdue.
