Akufo-Addo criticises international rating agencies and calls their actions careless
President Nana Akufo-Addo has criticised international rating agencies, calling their actions careless and hostile, particularly to struggling emerging nations. At the height of Ghana’s economic crisis, all the rating companies gave the nation a junk status credit rating. As a result of the rating, Ghana was prohibited from evaluating the capital market. President Akufo-Addo gave…
President Nana Akufo-Addo has criticised international rating agencies, calling their actions careless and hostile, particularly to struggling emerging nations.
At the height of Ghana’s economic crisis, all the rating companies gave the nation a junk status credit rating.
As a result of the rating, Ghana was prohibited from evaluating the capital market.
President Akufo-Addo gave a speech to attendees at the 30th Annual General Meeting of the Afrieximbank in Ghana. He described himself as “the AU advocate for African financial institution and leader of a country which has had to cope with one of the most difficult periods in its post-independent history.
“Difficulties that were made worse by the careless actions of rating agencies that engaged in downgrading, shutting out Ghana from the capital market and turning the liquidity crises into solvency crises.”
He said that amid the country’s economic downturn, Afrieximbank offered the necessary assistance to enable Ghana to “when we suddenly recognise we are alone, we must negotiate the macroeconomic management issues made more difficult by Russian intervention in Ukraine.”
The President thinks that as a result, Africa has to create its own financial institutions to provide assistance in times of need.
The impacts of the economic crisis are currently being felt in all areas of the economy, and Ken Ofori Atta, the finance minister, has said that the energy industry would undergo significant reforms in order to prevent a collapse.
As of the end of May 2023, the sector had around $2 billion in legacy debt, and it is anticipated that there would be a shortage of $5.9 billion between 2023 and 2025 as a result of the existing state of State Owned Enterprises and Independent Power Producers in the value chain.
He claims that these changes will pay off the industry’s debt and decrease losses in the energy sector over the long term.
Ken Ofori Atta, the minister of finance, took use of the opportunity to urge the bank to move quickly to help several African nations overcome their current problems.
He thought the bank might be one of the cornerstones that will change the continent.
