How Ghana's debt increased under Akufo Addo from GHC120 billion to GHC600 billion

Ghana's national debt stock was GH120 billion in the start of 2016. That implies that before the administration of current President Nana Akufo Addo entered office in 2017, the total amount of Ghana's indebtedness was less than GH25 billion. Our indebtedness have now reached a staggering GHC600 billion after the current administration has been in office for six years.

According to research conducted by the author, Ghana's debt to GDP climbed throughout the same time period, rising from 56% in 2016 to 103% as of this writing. The situation has arisen because, in the words of the opposition National Democratic Congress, "the President and his Economic Management Team actively colluded with the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta, for the latter to directly benefit from these borrowings through numerous transaction fees, schemes and scams from the bonds Ghana issued."

The NDC claimed that their True State of the Nation address booklet conveyed their official position. The State of the Nation Address delivered by President Akufo Addo to the Ghanaian Parliament on March 8, 2023, was directly addressed in that paper. Johnson Aseidu Nketia, the chairman, read the NDC stance paper. It must be emphasized that the first person to suggest that Databank, an investment bank owned in part by the finance minister, has been acting as transactional consultants to several financial transactions carried out by the current administration was former Special Prosecutor Martin Alamisi Amidu.

This assumes that Databank charges a percentage fee for these international fiscal transactions when Ghana uses Databank as its foreign transaction deposit medium. After the year ended, Ghana's yearly debt climbed by GHC20,000,000,000 ($4,529,000,000), while our cumulative debt increased by GHC173,100,000,000 ($33,100,000,000), indicating Ghana added GH33,100,000,000 to her debt stock at the end of the 2018 fiscal year. The equivalent in money is $6,867 million.

The GH173,100 million that was recorded in 2018 was increased by an additional GHC218,200 million, for a total increase of GH45,100 during the 2019 fiscal year, or $8,150 million. In 2020, the nation's debts continued to rise. Our debts increased by GH73,400 million ($12,743 million) in the year to come (2020). We acquired another GH351, 800 million in debt to our stock portfolio in 2021. That means GH60,200 million was added to our debts, which are already increasing.That is equivalent to $10,023,000,000.

Then, at the conclusion of the 2022 fiscal year, Ghana's indebtedness had grown to GH575,700, a rise of around GHC223,900 million. Additionally, that is equivalent to almost $26,108,000,000 in US dollars. Thus, over the course of six years, Ghana's debt accumulation grew by GH455,700 billion, or $68,420 billion. Additional research by the author demonstrates that the figures resulted from excessive government spending.

For instance, many observers question why the President of the Republic would fly on lavishly appointed private jets for several months at a cost of between $14,000 and $18,000 per hour. The nation's private jet, meanwhile, has recently undergone an expensive renovation. Others believed that given Ghana's fragile economic state, our President should have traveled with more restraint.

After all, a large number of his coworkers fly abroad on commercial flights to Southern African nations with stronger economies than Ghana. Another argument is that many of the costs associated with building or repairing roads are higher than what the ruling government would have Ghanaians believe. Although the quotations are lower than the actual cost to repair the roads, the inflated figures are added to the nation's debt load when it shouldn't have been.

NDC's position on the matter is as follows: "It is tragic that the president would refer to ordinary road maintenance like re-sealing, re-shaping, repairing potholes, and re-graveling as new roads. The assertion that this administration has built more than 11,000 kilometers of new roads is untrue and ought to be ignored.

The president's overly bloated government, in which his appointees drive some of the most luxurious cars and receive free fuel, as well as other quasi-public officials who also lead lavish lifestyles and receive free fuel coupons, are other hot-button issues. The Ghanaian Auditor General's annual reports have mentioned this element of extravagant expenditure without taking any action. However, despite all of this borrowing, Ghana is now again pleading with the IMF for a $3 billion loan.