Ghana built a resilient economy before COVID-19 - Finance Minister tells CNN

“Ghana went through the headwinds and built a resilient economy which grew at an average 6% in the three consecutive years prior to the pandemic,” he told CNN’s Richard Quest in an interview on Friday, July 2.

Amidst the global pandemic, Mr Ofori-Atta said the Ghanaian economy has leapt to become a hub for investment in the region.

“Ghana has been a pillar of stability, a legacy Nkrumah started in 1957. We are currently the headquarters of [the] African Continental Free Trade Area, which is the next wave of independence with regard to trade and investment. And you note that Twitter was able to come here [Ghana] as a result of this type of aggressive outward position that we’ve taken.

“We know Twitter decided to come here because of the aggressive outward position. We will continue to create a great business environment where assembling and manufacturing of VW and Toyota cars solidify our position as the gateway to Africa,” he told Richard Quest.

Meanwhile, government plans to issue green and social bonds worth up to $2 billion by November.

The move will make Ghana the first African country to sell loans to fund development programmes.

“Government plans to borrow up to $5 billion on international markets this year. Proceeds from these durable bonds will be used to refinance loans used for social and environmental projects and pay for educational or health amenities.” Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta said in an interview with Bloomberg.

“The bonds are expected to be issued in the fall and can be maxed out at $2 billion,” Ghana said in March, out of the $3.03 billion it already sold for $5 billion, for which it has budget approval, Ofori-Atta said.

“Of the total, $3.5 billion will be used to refinance debt already raised.

“Our actual new debt will be $1.5 billion,” he said.