The current economic crisis in Ghana has led to the formation of five Member-Strong Committee by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank Of Ghana to serve as a link between the state agencies and the financial services industry to develop a debt management strategy that will help to meet the needs and expectations of the government and the private investors.
The continuous cedi depreciation has led to high inflation and is affecting businesses in the country. This state of affairs is making it unable for investors to conduct business in Ghana.
The five-member committee has been tasked to ensure that there is, “orderliness and confidence in the government’s ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)”.
The statement also indicates that “the committee would be chaired by a former Chief Executive Officer of the Ecobank Group, Albert Essien, and has the former Managing Director of GCB Bank Plc, Simon Dornoo, as the Vice Chairman”.
The press statement, issued by the Public Affairs Department of the Finance Ministry indicated that other members of the committee were Alex Asiedu, an experienced Capital Market Expert who currently heads Standard Bank’s Africa Regions investment portfolio (excluding South Africa), there is also Mabel Nyarkoa Porbley, who is a seasoned insurance expert and currently the Managing Director of Sanlam General Insurance Ghana LTD, a subsidiary of Sanlam Group and finally, there is Peter Enti, an expert in advisory services including Pensionswith over 13 years experience.
It added that ” the committee will be consultative and will, among other things, lead discussions with the financial services industry and other stakeholders to provide industry-wide inputs and transmit industry concerns on debt management strategy to the MoF and BoG.”
The statement explained that the formation of the committee followed the Press Briefing held by the Ministry of Finance on September 26, 2022, in which the Finance Minister announced plans to constitute a committee that would collate the views and concerns of the financial services sector in developing a debt strategy.