The TOR – Torentco Deal: Smoke & Mirrors
In a significant move for Ghana’s oil industry, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has recently sought approval from Ghana’s Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to lease its main production assets to a company called Torentco Asset Management. The proposal involves leasing TOR’s primary production assets to Torentco Asset Management, which would assume control of TOR’s core refining […]
IMANI’s Bright Simons speaks to the BBC as Ghana receives $3bn IMF bailout
Ghana has just signed a new bailout programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) worth $3bn (£2.4bn). Ghana, long seen as one of Africa’s best run countries, has been struggling to recover from the combined effects of the global Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine. IMANI’s Bright Simons speaks to the BBC as Ghana […]
Breaking The Cycle of IMF Support: Addressing Governance Inefficiencies and Drivers of Public Debt in Ghana
In recent years, Ghana’s public debt has been steadily rising, and as of November 2022, it amounted to GHS 575 billion, with GHS 382.7 billion being external debt and GH¢193.1 billion domestic debt. The COVID-19 pandemic-induced spending has contributed to widening the gap between revenues and expenditure, about 79% in 2020. The government secured approximately […]
Documentary: The Benefits to Women of Increased Access to land
On Tuesday 28th March 2023, IMANI’s latest documentary was premiered to an engaging audience of diverse backgrounds. Yaw Oppong Esq.,the Director of the Ghana School of Law and author of Contemporary Trends in the Law of Immovable Property, Ms. Dorothy Gordon, a development economist and technology professional, Hajia Alima Saajito-Saeed, Executive Director of SWIDA and Ms. Maureen Odoi an […]
The old arguments for debt cancellation in Africa no longer apply
Two decades ago, the world was in the grip of a great debate over debt and debt cancellation in Africa. Total public debt stock had climbed to nearly $300bn by 2002 from $40bn in the two decades prior. Jubilee Debt Campaigners insisted on immediate cancellation. The Pope concurred Today, Africa’s external debt alone exceeds $700bn. […]
Will a global circular economy help or hurt Africa?
In Davos, many of the assembling elites had circular economy on their mind and lips, and the program was replete with its implications. “Circular economy” is a concept described by its supporters as the biggest economic opportunity since the industrial revolution. They peg its scale at $1 trillion by 2025 and $4.5 trillion by 2030. As both an […]
Is this the Beginning of the End of Ghana’s Fiscal Crisis?
A flurry of announcements this week was meant to signal that momentum was building towards a successful close of Ghana’s unorthodox domestic debt restructuring program (DDE). Banks, insurance firms and most capital market players have consented to revised terms for the orderly resolution of the country’s unsustainable domestic debt. At a plush conference in the Ghanaian hinterlands, at a resort featuring […]
Ghana’s “Divide & Conquer” Debt Strategy Hits Roadblock
Friday, 13th January 2023. Jubilee House, Ghana’s presidential palace. In attendance: the movers and shakers of public and commercial finance in the country. Arrayed on one side was the government, led by the Vice President, in his capacity as “Head of the Economic Management Team” (EMT). On the other side was a motley crew of […]
7 Flaws in Ghana’s Debt Restructuring and how to fix them – Bright Simons writes
Many might recall how in the year 2000 Ghana found itself, for the sixth time in its history, unable to continue servicing its accumulated debts, accepted the tag of a “Highly Indebted Poor Country” (HIPC), and underwent a series of reforms that ended in 2003. As a result of the HIPC program, Ghana, between 2003 […]
Ghana’s Debt Saga. What Next?
December 2022 is the most momentous month in Ghana’s recent economic history. After struggling to manage its debt, Ghana’s government had to resort to measures never witnessed in the last 50 years- officially default in paying its debts, setting in motion multiple and confounding debt restructuring scenarios. It is time to take stock, salvage the […]
