Ghana in position to push for big investments – Akufo-Addo to Ghanaians in Norway

According to him, the macro indications of the economy of the country is now sound and points to his administration’s socio and economic interventions since it took office in 2017.

“When we took office, we had rates of interest of the commercial banks going for 28 to 32 percent and its now 16 to 17 percent. The fiscal deficit we inherited was at 9.3 percent when I took office but is now at 4.5 as we speak now. All of these points to signals that the macro indications of our economy have now been put in a really sound place and we’re in the position now to make the big push for investments that we want.”

The President speaking to Ghanaians in Norway, Oslo on Monday February 24, said that these successes that his government has chalked is a positive indication of what lies ahead of the country.

“An indication of what is ahead of us was barely given week ago in the capital markets in London when we went to the market looking for US$3 billion worth of money to finance a bond known as the Eurobond and investors came with five times that amount of money amounting of US$15 billion worth,” he noted.

He added the period of the bond which spans 41 years is the longest maturity bond ever issued to any African country.

“To give you an idea of what has happened from 2017 and 2020, In 2016 when the Mahama government went to the market looking for bond money, they went and received an equivalent amount of money of 9.75 percent with the rate of the coupon and the one that we've just issued is 6.35 percent and this gives a clear idea of the difference," he concluded.

Eurobond issuance

The three-tranche bond was sold with 7-year, 14-year, and 41-year maturities. The government accepted US$1.25 billion for the 7-year-bond at a coupon rate of 6.375 percent.

This compares favourably to an exact tenor bond government issued in 2019 with a coupon rate of 7.875 percent.

Also, the government was successful in securing US$1 billion with a maturity period of 14 years at a rate of 7.75 percent. This rate also trumps the 8.125 percent the government accepted for a 12-year bond issued as part of the 2019 Eurobond.

The last of the three bonds issued was a 41-year bond which happens to be the longest dated bond issued by an African country. The government accepted to borrow US$750 million at a rate of 8.75 percent for the longest dated bond which matures in 2061.