Ghana To Default On Its External Debt

 

Reuters: Ghana to default on most external debt as economic crisis worsens 

ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana on Monday suspended payments on most of its external debt, effectively defaulting as the country struggles to plug its cavernous balance of payments deficit. 

Its finance ministry said it will not service debts including its Eurobonds, commercial loans and most bilateral loans, calling the decision an "interim emergency measure", while some bondholders criticised a lack of clarity in the decision. 

The government "stands ready to engage in discussions with all of its external creditors to make Ghana's debt sustainable", the finance ministry said. 

The suspension of debt payments reflects the parlous state of the economy, which had led the government last week to reach a $3-billion staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  

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Update #1: Ghana suspends payment of most external debts (Al Jazeera)  

Update #2: Ghana to default on most international debt (RFI)  

WNU Editor: I am old enough to remember when Ghana (in the 1980s - 2000) was one of Africa's economic shining lights.

A Third Of Ghana's Banks Have Closed Sparking Unprecedented Bank Run

Bloomberg: A $1.6 Billion Horror as Ghana Investors Can’t Get Their Savings

Isaac and Bless Boahen saved for months to fund her economics doctorate, but when the time came to cash in the investment, they were left empty handed.

The couple are among at least 70,000 investors who have become collateral damage from a cleanup of Ghana’s banking industry. The crackdown, which reduced the number of lenders by a third and saw the closure of 23 savings and loans companies, also triggered a run on fund managers, who couldn’t sell their holdings fast enough to meet demand.

That’s tying up as much as 9 billion cedis ($1.6 billion) of investments, more than a third of the 25 billion cedis in assets that private fund managers oversee for retail and institutional investors.

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Update: "Horror" In Ghana As A Third Of Banks Shutter, Sparking Unprecedented Bank Run (Zero Hedge)

WNU Editor: A bank run is a sight that you do not want to see. I saw it happen in Moscow in 1992, and the look on people's faces when they realized that they have lost their life savings is a sight that you will never forget.

Ghana’s Unlikely Democrat Finds Vindication in Vote

“Ghana will rise again. The people want real leadership again. They have seen the light.” JERRY JOHN RAWLINGS. Pius Utomi Ekpei/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

From The New York Times:

IT was the eve of a historic election, and the reluctant father of Ghanaian democracy was in the mood to talk. Eager, in fact. Jerry John Rawlings, the nation’s former military ruler turned civilian president, could hardly sit still, sliding from one edge of a leather couch to the other, slapping a visitor’s boot for emphasis, using his huge, meaty hands to chop the air.

Almost eight years after voters rejected his chosen successor, Mr. Rawlings, a man who looms larger than almost any other in this iconic nation for African liberation, was on the verge of vindication.

“Ghana will rise again,” he said in his rumbling bassoon of a voice reaching a growling peak. He did not know yet that his party, the National Democratic Congress, would once again seize the presidency. The second round of the election, held last month, had not taken place yet. But he liked his party’s chances.

“The people want real leadership again,” he said in a long and sometimes rambling interview at his home here. “They have seen the light.”

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Ghana's New President: Africa's Symbol Of A Working Democracy

Rich Clabaugh/STAFF

From Christian Science Monitor:

John Atta Mills took the oath of office Wednesday after a closely contested race.
Accra, Ghana - Thousands of Ghanaians packed Independence Square in the capital Wednesday to welcome their new president after an election so close that one small rural constituency held the key to victory for opposition candidate John Atta Mills.

Ghana's orderly transition of power is a bright spot after a dismal year for democracy in Africa. More than 1,000 Kenyans died in violent attacks that followed a disputed election 12 months ago. Kenya's crisis was followed by Zimbabwe's flawed elections, which resulted in a power-sharing agreement that has yet to be implemented. In Mauritania and Guinea, the military seized power from the elected governments.

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Ghana's President-Elect Appeals For Wisdom After Poll Win

John Atta-Mills

From AFP:

ACCRA (AFP) — President-elect John Atta-Mills appealed Sunday for wisdom to lead Ghanaians, a day after winning a presidential poll deemed exemplary by African standards.

"I ask for nothing from God, what I ask for is wisdom to lead the people. The people have voted for change in direction," he told hundreds of Christians at Pure Fire church in the capital where he attended service.

Clergymen in their sermons, some of which were broadcast live on radio, praised their congregations for having shown political maturity. They urged them to rally behind the new government so Ghana could remain an example for other countries on the continent.

Atta-Mills , who won the election in the second round by a very slim margin of just 40,000 votes out of a total of some 9 million ballots cast, was accompanied to the service by a handful of party officials and security personnel.

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Opposition Candidate Wins Ghanaian Presidency

Photo: President-elect John Atta-Mills addresses party supporters shortly after being declared winner of the runoff presidential election in Accra, 03 Jan 2009

From Voice of America:

Tax law professor John Atta-Mills is Ghana's next president. The opposition candidate won a hard-fought, much-delayed election that was ultimately decided by fewer than 50,000 votes.

With results in from Ghana's final electoral constituency, Atta-Mills won with 50.23 percent of the vote, narrowly beating ruling-party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo's 49.77 percent.

Electoral Commission Chairman Kwado Afari-Gyan named Atta-Mills the winner.

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Ghana Ballot Delivers Blow To Ruling Party

From Reuters:

NSAWKAW, Ghana, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Electors in the last constituency to vote in Ghana's presidential run-off delivered a further blow on Friday to the ruling party, which was already trailing narrowly in the election and boycotted the final ballot.

Opposition leader John Atta Mills and the ruling party's Nana Akufo-Addo are vying to succeed outgoing President John Kufuor as the West African country prepares to start producing crude oil in 2010.

The winner is due to be announced on Saturday after the Electoral Commission has examined appeals from both sides over alleged irregularities in last Sunday's run-off.

That vote was so close that Tain's 53,000 voters were left to decide the outcome, raising tensions over a vote seen as a chance to bolster Africa's battered democratic credentials after flawed and bloody polls in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

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Presidential Elections In Ghana

Ghana Leader Urges Calm Amid Presidential Revote -- AP

NSAWKAW, Ghana (AP) — Ghana's leader appealed for calm and urged his people to accept the results of a tight presidential election as voters in a single district cast ballots Friday that could decide the West African nation's next president.

Voters in the tiny western district of Tain were unable to take part in Sunday's nationwide runoff because not enough ballots were distributed. A makeup vote was held there peacefully Friday despite the ruling party's attempts to stop it.

"What we need to have is peace," farmer Kwadwo Fordjour said as he waited to vote in Nsawkaw.

Election results from all other districts show opposition leader John Atta Mills ahead of his ruling party rival Nana Akufo-Addo by only around 23,000 votes out of more than 9 million cast.

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More News On Ghana

Ghanaian leader in plea to rivals -- BBC
Ghana's Ruling-Party Boycotting Friday Vote -- Voice of America
Ghana's Ruling Party Tries to Stop Vote -- Daily Telegraph
Ghana Party to Boycott Key Vote -- BBC News

Ghana Knife-Edge Result Delayed

From The BBC:

The electoral commissioner of Ghana has delayed the result of Sunday's knife-edge presidential run-off until Friday.

Results in the Ashanti and Volta regions have been disputed and the Tain area, where the poll was delayed, will now vote on Friday.

Officials said the contest between the opposition's John Atta Mills and ruling party's Nana Akufo-Addo was so close one result could decide the outcome.

The BBC correspondent in Ghana says there are fears violence could erupt.

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Opposition Candidate 'Holds Slim Lead In Ghana Vote'

From AFP:

ACCRA (AFP) — Opposition candidate John Atta-Mills Monday maintained a slim lead over the ruling party's Nana Akufo-Addo in Ghanaian presidential elections seen as a test of its democratic credentials.

Atta-Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had 50.43 percent of the vote against 49.57 percent for Akufo-Addo of the ruling New Patriotic Party, with 225 out of 230 constituencies reported, according to Metro TV.

Joy FM showed a similar trend, giving the NDC candidate 51.05 percent of the vote against 48.90 percent for Akufo-Addo, with 219 constituencies reported.

The electoral commission is expected to announce official results around midday (1200 GMT) Tuesday.

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Presidential Runoff Vote Goes Smoothly In Ghana

From Yahoo News/AP:

ACCRA, Ghana – Ghana's presidential runoff vote appeared to go smoothly Sunday, observers and analysts said, even though the West African nation's ruling party and opposition traded allegations of rigging.

Nana Akufo-Addo of the ruling party faced opposition candidate John Atta Mills, whose campaign maintains that the country's economic growth has not been felt in people's wallets.

"On the whole, the election has been peaceful, with just some queues at some of the polling stations too long and too slow," said Kwesi Jonah, a scholar-in-residence at the Institute of Democratic Governance, an independent thinktank.

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Drug Smugglers Threaten To Destroy Democracy In Ghana

From Times Online:

Ghanaians go to the polls tomorrow to vote in a presidential run-off but many fear that the amount of cocaine trafficked through the country threatens to overshadow the result and the country’s democracy.

Ghana is said to be the staging post of the cocaine route from South American coca growers to European consumers. Drug enforcement officials estimate that as much as £1.3 billion of cocaine is trafficked through West Africa each year, roughly a quarter of all the cocaine imported into Europe, and much of it destined for Britain.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime talks of the region as being “under attack” and facing “a crisis of epic proportions”.

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My Comment: This is something that Africa has no need for right now .... narco traffickers and the corruption and destruction of society that they bring.

Ghana Election To Go To A Run-Off

From The BBC:

Ghana's presidential election must be decided in a second-round vote, the electoral commission has announced.

Governing party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo won 49.13% of the vote, against 47.92% for his rival, John Atta Mills, the commission said.

But neither reached the 50% threshold needed for an outright win and a run-off will be held on 28 December.

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Voting Heavy In Ghana

From The New York Times:

ACCRA, Ghana (Reuters) — Ghanaians turned out in large numbers on Sunday to vote for president in an election between two foreign-trained lawyers hoping to lead the country into an era of oil-fueled prosperity.

Observers said voting was generally peaceful despite delays in some areas and violence at a handful of polling places.

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