The managers of ESLA Plc, the entity mandated to raise money to settle the energy sector debts, yesterday had its ten year bond oversubscribed at an interest rate around 19 percent.

This is below the target of about 19.4 percent.

The managers of ESLA Plc, re-opened the ten year bond from Monday (January 22, 2018) to Wednesday, January 24, 2018.

The managers were hoping to raise between 100 and 137 million cedis.

However, at the close of the auction, the bond had raised 615.9 million cedis.

This means that the targeted amount was oversubscribed by about six times.

Sources close to the issue tell Citi Business News that investors are seeking interest rates around 19 percent which is below the targeted 19.4 percent.

Reacting to this, Economist at the University of Ghana, Dr. Ebo Turkson explained that the reduction of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rates coupled with a relative stability attracted investors to buy into the bond.

“You normally expect such an outturn in our case when the US Fed announces a reduction in its rate and therefore investors will be looking at us. But given the US reduction in taxes among others, that (reduced US Fed rates) may not necessarily be the issue. The more possible reason will be the confidence that the investors have in the Ghanaian economy due to the relative stability…usually investors will not offer an interest rate lower than what those who borrowed the money will expect,” he stated.

The first issuance carried out in October last year, attracted some 19.5 percent in interest.

Some industry watchers have also attributed the investors’ response to the fact that this issue is a secondary one.

By this, it means government has been able to raise an estimated 5.3 billion cedis out of the 10 billion cedis.

Hence the government is left with an outstanding amount estimated at 4.7 billion cedis to raise.

Already, the Minister of Energy Boakye Agyarko has announced that the managers will be coming to the market in March to raise the remainder.

Though he would not readily predict the interest rate to be charged, Dr. Ebo Turkson maintained that the rate will largely be determined by the prevailing economic conditions around that time.

“I cannot come out with an expected figure as we speak now; maybe a few weeks to the issue I could look at the prevailing conditions to make a prediction. It is more so because in the market for such financial instruments, so many factors are at play and that influence the rates. Even with this issue, the government got a lesser rate than it was prepared to pay,”

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

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The bond which was reopened on Monday (January 22, 2018) and closed on Wednesday (January 24, 2018), targeted between 100 and 130 million cedis from the market.

Today’s amount is about six times more than the target.

Although the managers were looking at an interest rate of between 19 and 19.4 percent, Citi Business News understands that the issue yielded rates below the range forecast.

ESLA Plc in November last year issued 7 and 10 year bonds to raise some 6 billion cedis to settle outstanding debts in the energy sector.

In all, ESLA raised 4.7 billion cedis.

The debt in the energy sector is estimated at 10 billion cedis.

Meanwhile the Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko has told Citi Business News the government will be returning to the market in March this year to raise the remaining amount estimated at 6 billion cedis to clear the energy sector debts.

“We will come back to market in March…to raise the balance of about 6 billion cedis,” he told Citi Business News.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

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According to the Ministry, the arguments put forward by the minority do not reflect the actual situation.

The Minority on Wednesday held a press conference where it criticized the below 6 billion cedis yield of the bond.

It argued that, the turn of events is a solid basis for the Finance Minister to be hauled before the house to explain why investment advice from institutions such as the IMF among others was ignored.

But the Finance Ministry has on a point by point basis, dismissed the assertions by the minority.

Read the full statement of the Finance Ministry below.

RESPONSE TO THE NDC’S PRESS STATEMENT ON THE ESLA BACKED ENERGY BOND

The Ministry of Finance takes notice of the Statement by the NDC Minority in Parliament making various unsubstantiated claims about the recently issued Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA) backed energy bond. The Ministry as the ‘Sponsor’ of the GH¢10 billion Bond Programme, hereby responds to the Minority’s claims as follows:

1. Intellectual Dishonesty:

The Minority’s statement is fraught with various factual untruths which appear to be deliberately spun to allow them to reach their own preferred conclusions:

• First, the claim that the 7-year bond closed at GH¢1.5 billion is not accurate. Published information by E.S.L.A. PLC indicates that the 7-year bond was oversubscribed at GH¢2.53 billion. E.S.L.A. PLC chose to accept GH¢2.4 billion at the cut-off interest rate of 19.0%;

• Second, the claim that the 10-year bond was first closed at GHC760 million again is false. Bids received in the first week amounted to GH¢872 million and not GH¢760 million as claimed by the minority. This information is public and verifiable;

• Third, the minority claims the 10-year bond after extension closed at GH¢2.2 billion. Again false. Total bids received for the 10-year bond was GH¢2.79 billion of which E.S.L.A. PLC accepted GH¢2.29 billons at an interest rate of 19.5%.

In all E.S.L.A. PLC received Bids of GHC 5.32 billion (GH¢2.53 billion for the 7-year and GH¢2.8 billion for the 10-year), representing 89% of the targeted amount of GH¢6 billion for the first tranche under the Bond Programme.  E.S.L.A. PLC chose to accept the total amount of GH¢ 4.70 billion out of a possible GH¢5.32 billion; representing 78% of the targeted amount as this was what it preferred within its target price range of 19%-19.5%. Making a decision based on a cost/yields consideration, is prudent and not a failure. To claim that the issuance was a failure, is to be intellectually dishonest, if not mischief.

2. Justifying Assumptions

The minority again claimed that the projected consumption of petroleum products, used as a basis for projecting ESLA inflows was unrealistic. This was based on their assumption that monthly fuel consumption is equal through-out the year.

Historical data on consumption patterns however prove that this is a flawed assumption. Fuel consumption in the second half of the year is often higher as a result of increased economic activity and seasonal weather patterns.

E.S.L.A. PLC’s projected consumption of petroleum products is accurate and conservative and remains in line with historical patterns.

3. Explaining Debt Service Coverage Ratio

The Minority claim that E.S.L.A. PLC could not meet the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) of 1.25% but rather scored 1.1% DSCR. They arrive at the 1.1% by dividing the expected inflows from the Energy Debt Recovery Levy of GH¢1.281 billion by GH¢1.158 billion in total interest payments for both the 7-year and 10-year bonds (i.e. 1.281/1.158 = 1.1)

The Minority however, did not recognize the addition of GH¢600 million GoG cash support (to be provided on demand) component, as stated in the prospectus, to the GH¢1.28 billion. They also did not add the starting cash of GH¢ 350 million in the Energy Debt Recovery Levy(EDRL) Account. It is instructive to note that the addition of the two missing components in the Minority’s assumptions, gives a total amount of approximately GH¢2.231 billion making the ratio now 1.926% (2.231/1.158). This is far greater than the required 1.25% DSCR.

The Minority either did not fully understand the assumptions underlying the structure and thus failed to do the math right or was just being plainly malicious.

4. The Subject of a Confusing Structure

The NDC claim that they found the structure of the transaction complex to understand. They further assume that because they found it complex to understand, others must also find it complex. The good thing is that the investors for whom the bond was meant understood it and that is why they patronised the bond with bids of up to GH¢5.32 billion of the targeted GH¢6 billion bid cover ratio.

Their claim that ESLA is government revenue and that an ESLA backed bond must be treated as sovereign debt is incorrect. ESLA proceeds do not commingle with the consolidated fund and thus, cannot be treated as government revenue affecting GoG fiscals.

An E.S.L.A backed bond can equally not be treated as government/sovereign debt. It is surprising that the former Finance Minister under the NDC, Hon. Seth Terkper shares this view and yet the Minority refuses to listen to him.

It is also unbelievable how the Minority would want this debt to be considered part of government debt, when in 2016, the same NDC government restructured about GH¢2 billion debt owed commercial banks under ‘the VRA Phase 1 Restructuring Program’ using ESLA proceeds as a payment source. If ‘VRA Phase 1’ and TOR debt restructuring were deemed prudent at the time by the NDC and treated as a non-sovereign transaction, why not the E.S.L.A. PLC’s Bonds? The inconsistency in the opinions of the Minority NDC is baffling.

5. Parliamentary and Constitutional Breach

The Minority in their Statement also claim that the transaction was unconstitutional as it did not have a parliamentary approval.

• First, it is curious that the Minority fails to tell us which aspects of the constitution or parliamentary standing orders or procedures that have been breached here. The mere mouthing of unconstitutionality does not create an illegality.

• Second, Parliament gave approval for this bond issuance program when it approved the 2017 Budget and Economic Policy which in paragraph 805 outlined this program. Again, in paragraph 74 of the 2017 Mid-year review the Finance Minister announced our readiness to execute this deal. Further, section 61 of the Public Financial Management ACT (which was incidentally passed during the tenure of the NDC) gives the Minister power to execute this transaction by auction. This transaction required no second layer of Parliamentary approval.

• Third, this bond is not an International financial transaction as envisaged by the constitution. Both the 7-year and 10-year bonds were domestic bonds and do not require Article 181, clause 5 approval approval unlike the Eurobonds.

6. Causing Financial Loss

Can the Minority be bold and indicate how the financial loss arises? This is missing in their statement. The mere mouthing of the claim that government could have gotten the bond issued at 2% lower does not legitimize that claim. What is the empirical basis? The minority fails to state it. This transaction by E.S.L.A. PLC causes no loss to the State.

Conclusion

The Ministry re-iterates its congratulations to all who assisted with this groundbreaking transaction and shares in the view that this was a very successful and landmark transaction; the largest corporate bond issuance in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Ministry of Finance under this Government, will continue to pursue measures to assist in resolving the challenges in the Energy Sector that it inherited, including the over GH¢10 billion worth of legacy debts and other obligations, dumsor, unreliable and intermittent power supply, high tariffs and non-performing loans within the banking sector that is threatening to cripple the banks (due to energy sector legacy debts). We hope we can count on all Ghanaians and other stakeholders for their support and encouragement as we continue to tackle this challenges head on. 

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Statement: Finance Ministry dismisses Minority’s claims on energy bond appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the government still has an option of making amends for the shortfalls in the process.

[contextly_sidebar id=”OUITIm9g2bNOF2hbkU8IsIzCClFg52Ov”]“Given the fact that government had given a certain period within which it will do the whole bond issue, one will be very careful to say it is a total failure because there is an option for them to go to the market to determine the market conditions. But given the indications that we received earlier, and government’s own confidence that the bond will be more successful and what we have, then it fell short of our expectations and that is a fact,” he said in an interview on Eyewitness News on Thursday.

Prof. Bokpin also said he believes it would have been more appropriate for the government to issue the bond as a sovereign bond rather than a corporate bond.

“My considered view is that given this circumstance, it would have been more preferable for government to go for a sovereign bond rather than a corporate bond. What we are trying to do is that, we want to keep our debt to GDP ratio within the target for the year and for next year, but at the end of the day, this special purpose vehicle is fully backed by government…. One school of thought can easily classify this energy bond typically as a public debt even though Ghana government will say it is not… In terms of strategy, we will not say the government was totally wrong,” he added.

Government issued a ten year and seven year bond with the aim of getting GHc6 billion to offset the legacy debts of the energy sector, which was about GHc10 billion.

But in all, a total of GHc4.69 billion was realized even after a seven day extension period.

The 7-year component raked in 2.4 billion cedis as targeted, at an interest rate of 19 percent.

However, the 10 year bond failed to hit the 3.6 billion cedis mark.

Minority chide gov’t over energy bond

The Minority at a press conference on Wednesday accused the government of causing financial loss to the state, claiming that administrative processes cost the country ghc177 million.

According to them, the below GHc 6 billion yield was a solid basis for the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to be hauled before the House to explain why investment advice from places such as the IMF among others was ignored.

They also accused government of breaching the constitution because they did not seek the approval of Parliament before issuing the bond.

But a Deputy Minister for Finance, Kwaku Kwarteng, has explained that, the bond struggled because of the low-interest rate of 19%, saying the investors wanted more, but the government was not willing to go beyond 20%.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citfimonline.com/Ghana

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The managers of the bonds had sought to raise 6 billion cedis under two separate bonds, but accrued a total of 4.6 billion cedis after it closed the auction.

The 7-year bond received the targeted 2.4 billion cedis, whilst the 10-year bond accrued about 2.2 billion cedis, below the target of 3.6 billion cedis.

The Minority have described this development as failure by the government, as they had raised a $2.25 billion bond in hours earlier in 2017, but appeared to be struggling with the new bonds just 11 months into their administration.

However, speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday, Gideon Boako explained that, ESLA PLC had sought to raise a ‘programme bond’ of 6 billion within a period of five years, and not a one-off bond as the Minority had suggested.

“The Minority showed gross ignorance of the whole process. They are confusing a bullet bond with a programme bond on a book-building approach. In the past, they had issued bonds as one-off. When you go to the market today and raise the bond, you are supposed to get whatever you want to get today and it goes. This bond is a programme bond for five years,” he said.

“If they had taken time to read the prospectus well they would have known that it is stated that the Energy Bond Programme will expire five years from the date of the prospectus. So ESLA PLC had decided to raise up to 6 billion within five years. If they go to the market today, they aren’t supposed to raise all the 6 billion today. It is a programme bond for five years. So the 6 billion can be raised next year. They went to the market and within two weeks, they were able to raise 4.7 billion which is about 78 percent of the 6 billion.”

The Minority organised a press conference on Wednesday, where they raised a number of issues about Government’s attempts to raise energy bonds, claiming that they had caused financial loss to the state.

They also claimed that the government had created a ‘risky’ special purpose vehicle, the ESLA PLC, which had no track record and was unknown to potential investors.
However, Gideon Boako clarified that, ESLA PLC had not been created by the government but by state-owned enterprises who were indebted to the banks and sought to raise funds to clear those debts.

“Government of Ghana has not issued any energy bond. It was a corporate bond issued by a special purpose vehicle; ESLA PLC. Government [did not create the] special purpose vehicle. State owned-enterprises that owed banks created the special purpose vehicle to raise money to enable them pay debts that they owed banks,” he said.

‘Investor confidence not diminishing’

Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, said the attempts by the government to raised bonds since April have been unsuccessful because of waning investor confidence in the ability of the managers of the economy.

“They rode on the back of the confidence of the economy that the NDC left, to raise a bond of $2.25 billion in four hours. What has now happened that in one month, they still can’t raise it? They are destroying the fundamentals that we developed for them. When they were in their honeymoon period and were taking credit we told them to wait and that their time would come. Their time has come and we have been embarrassed,” he said.

However, Dr. Boako brushed this assertion aside stating that ESLA PLC had opted to settle for a high percentage of the targeted amount instead of the entire amount in order to get better interest rates.

“On the market, it’s a demand and supply matter, we bargain. That’s what pertains on every market. This is not a boutique. The bullet bonds would be boutique items in this case. When they mention a price, you have no option to bargain. This is a book-building bond approach on a programme so we bargain,” he argued.

“That is how we operate on the market, the forces of demand and supply are at play and that is typical of every market. At the end of the day, ESLA PLC said they are not in a rush to raise the 6 billion and will not rush to go for high interest rates. They have ample time.”
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Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The deputy Minister said the Minority was “pulling the figures from the air” rendering its assertions baseless.

[contextly_sidebar id=”mIqlfzSC46ei61tCNvBgve05XlyDL2et”]“The facts don’t support the narratives they [the Minority] are trying to put out,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah stated on Eyewitness News.

The Minority at a press conference on Wednesday argued that there was some negligence on the part of the government because it did not follow investment advice from the International Monetary Fund, among others.

ESLA PLC, the independent special purpose vehicle sponsored by Ghana, pegged the bond at a B-stable rating, and the Minority contended that the government should have gone to the financial market on the strength of this rating, thus saving some 200 basis points that translated to GHc 1.2 million.

Because of this, the Minority is pushing for the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to be hauled before Parliament.

Mr. Oppong Nkrumah reminded that the government could have gotten us much as GHc 5.32 billion for the bond issue instead of the eventual GHc 4.7 which some have been described as unsuccessful.

“When the window was extended, we got a total of GHc 5.32 billion, but because of the interest rates, the government decided to settle on about 4.7 billion,” he said.

“A lot of the things our friends in the Minority come up with, sometimes you wonder where they are really getting these figures from, whether they are on their own coming up with these figures or whether the figures are the facts.”

The energy bond was issued to offset the legacy debts of the energy sector estimated at GHc 10 billion.

The seven-year component raked in GHc2.4 billion as targeted, at an interest rate of 19 percent.

However, the 10-year bond failed to hit the GHc 3.6 billion mark. It accrued some GHc 2.29 billion at an interest rate of 19.5 percent, meaning, the total amount received was about 22 percent less than the targeted GHc 6 billion.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonine.com/Ghana

The post Minority manufacturing figures in Energy Bond critique – Oppong Nkrumah appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking at a press conference organised by the Minority in Parliament today [Wednesday], Isaac Adongo accused the Vice President of consistently peddling falsehood, but the confident way in which he speaks had convinced Ghanaians to accept his “lies” about the state of the economy.

[contextly_sidebar id=”C7U6vY0kzAVTvfML4OXYiSlrtrgs4ga9″]”Bawumia has never understood the economy of Ghana. He has always lied about the economy of Ghana. He said that our debt was about 36 billion and would end at 40 billion dollars. When he came with his budget, he said it was around 26 billion. How did John Mahama miraculously find 14 billion dollars to pay down the debt in three months before we left office? He took the people of Ghana for a ride,” he said.

“The reality is that, he knows nothing but he’s so confident and eloquent that he can confuse all of you. The reality is that he’s now managing the economy and must walk the talk. But with this bond, I doubt they will attempt the four billion again because they will not get a third rematch because the investors are already away from it.”

His comments come on the back of recent failed attempts by the government to meet its target for the first tranche of the energy bond.

The managers of the bond sought to raise 6 billion cedis under two separate bonds, but accrued a total of 4.6 billion cedis after it closed the auction.

The 7-year bond received the targeted 2.4 billion cedis, whilst the 10-year bond accrued about 2.2 billion cedis, below the target of 3.6 billion cedis.

Several critics have described this development as a failure by the government, and a sign of the declining confidence of investors, whilst the government hailed the bond as relatively successful.

According to Adongo, the recent failed attempts by the government to meet its target for the first tranche of the energy bond, was an indication of the inability of the Economic management team, led by the Vice President, to manage the economy adequately.

Isaac Adongo described the team as “over-hyped” and stated that Dr. Bawumia’s “eloquence” had convinced Ghanaians to accept his “lies” about the state of the economy.

“They rode on the back of the confidence of the economy that the NDC left, to raise a bond of $2.25 billion in four hours. What has now happened that in one month, they still can’t raise it? They are destroying the fundamentals that we developed for them. When they were in their honeymoon period and were taking credit we told them to wait and that their time would come. Their time has come and we have been embarrassed,” he said.

He claimed that the balance sheet of ESLA PLC after raising the bond was -$3.6 billion, and that no investor would put their money in such a company.

“It’s only under the best economist that the world has ever produced, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,” Isaac Adongo added sarcastically.

Listen to the full address by Isaac Adongo below

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Bawumia is only confident, he knows nothing’- Minority appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the recent failed attempts by the government to meet its target for the first tranche of the energy bond was an indication of the inability of the Economic management team, led by the Vice President, to manage the economy adequately.

[contextly_sidebar id=”u5hOEuV08ZHHAlRrD63ZpHMT9W9Phdes”]Speaking at a press conference organised by the Minority in Parliament today [Wednesday], Isaac Adongo described the team as “over-hyped” and stated that Dr. Bawumia’s “eloquence” had convinced Ghanaians to accept his “lies” about the state of the economy.

“Bawumia has never understood the economy of Ghana. He has always lied about the economy of Ghana. He said that our debt was about 36 billion and would end at 40 billion dollars. When he came with his budget, he said it was around 26 billion. How did John Mahama miraculously find 14 billion dollars to pay down the debt in three months before we left office? He took the people of Ghana for a ride,” he said.

“The reality is that, he knows nothing but he’s so confident and eloquent that he can confuse all of you. The reality is that he’s now managing the economy and must walk the talk. But with this bond, I doubt they will attempt the four billion again because they will not get a third rematch because the investors are already away from it.”

The managers of the bond sought to raise 6 billion cedis under two separate bonds, but accrued a total of 4.6 billion cedis after it closed the auction.

The 7-year bond received the targeted 2.4 billion cedis, whilst the 10-year bond accrued about 2.2 billion cedis, below the target of 3.6 billion cedis.

Several critics have described this development as a failure by the government and a sign of the declining confidence of investors, whilst the government hailed the bond as relatively successful.

According to Isaac Adongo, despite being able to raise a $2.25 billion bond in hours in April on the back of the goodwill built up by the NDC, the subsequent attempts have failed because of waning investor confidence.

“They rode on the back of the confidence of the economy that the NDC left, to raise a bond of $2.25 billion in four hours. What has now happened that in one month, they still can’t raise it? They are destroying the fundamentals that we developed for them. When they were in their honeymoon period and were taking credit we told them to wait and that their time would come. Their time has come and we have been embarrassed,” he said.

He claimed that the balance sheet of ESLA PLC after raising the bond was -$3.6 billion, and that no investor would put their money in such a company.

“It’s only under the best economist that the world has ever produced, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,” Isaac Adongo added, tongue-in-cheek.

Listen to the full address by Isaac Adongo below

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Bawumia always lies about Ghana’s economy’ – Adongo [Audio] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Government was able to raise 3.4 billion cedis as at Friday, October 27, 2017.

As a result, the managers of the bond have announced an extension of the auction for the 10 year bond by one more week.

The 3.4 billion cedis so far raised, represents about 57 percent of the 6 billion cedis needed.

But it is worth noting that, more than seventy percent or 2.5 billion cedis of the amount, was realized from the 7-year bond issued.

The 10 year bond, attracted 902 million cedis, far less than the 3.6 billion cedis target.

Like earlier prediction by Economist, Dr. Lord Mensah, Citi Business News understands government will be paying 19 percent interest on the 2.4 billion cedis.

For Economist, Dr. Eric Osei Assibey, the rate may just be realistic.

“The fact that this bond didn’t have any kind of Sovereign guarantee, there’s some amount of risk that investors associate with this kind of bond. Therefore I think 19 percent is quite fair, and because it is also a long-term bond, and there is so much uncertainty around it, you would expect that investors will definitely go in for a higher cost,” he stated.

Meanwhile, managers of the bond have extended auctioning for the 10-year bond for seven more days.

The auction is now expected to close on Friday, November 3^rd, 2017, and it is unclear what prompted this move this time around.

But it appears that investors requested for an extension due to the nature of not being a Sovereign bond.

Dr. Osei Assibey also shared his expectation after the close of bids on Friday, November 3^rd.

“It could just be around the figure expected, so let’s give some plus or minus to that…the confidence level over the last couple of months has increased by the fact that the micro economic indicators are on track, and also having the IMF coming in to back the government’s policies and others.”

Analysts are however optimistic that, the eventual completion of the process should turn around the fortunes of the various State Owned Enterprises, whose operations have been affected by the accumulated debts.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Govt fails to raise 6b cedis for energy bond appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He noted the meetings were not only fruitful, but Ghana has a lot of leads to follow up on to boost the financial and energy sectors in particular.

[contextly_sidebar id=”f6e97YTZqtmc445C1uepFNsB7pkdCjvi”]Briefing the media after the meetings, Oppong – Nkrumah denied rumours that the Bretton Woods Institutions were against the Energy Bond.

“It isn’t true that the IMF was against our Energy Bond,” he pointed out, adding “There is a lot of investor appetite to take up the bond, which when successfully issued, will lead to permanently solving some of the challenges in the energy sector.”

He was hopeful the 10 billion Cedi Energy Bond will be listed successfully to offset the energy sector debt, which contributed significantly to the challenges of some banks in the country. The bond, which will be auctioned in tranches, will start with a first tranche of six billion cedis, Mr.Oppong-Nkrumah stressed.

Ghana’s delegation, which was led by Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo, also met potential investors in an attempt to tickle their interest in the Ghanaian economy .

According to Oppong – Nkrumah, a lot of investors have “shown immense interest” in the government’s flagship programme – One District, One Factory, stating that the Trade Ministry and the Secretariat in charge of the policy are collaborating to win the hearts of investors.

“We also made some inroads in the financial sector, and the Finance Minister will follow up on them. We also met with officials of the IMF about the extended Credit Facility Programme and the next review. They were impressed with us and the progress we have made so far. Officials of the IMF are expected in the country for the fifth review on Wednesday so that we can access the next $90 million left to carry out developments,” the Ofoase – Ayirebi legislator added.

He further stated that, Ghana’s team also used the opportunity to update officials of the Millennium Challenge Account on the progress made with the ECG private sector participation program.

He promised that the team will follow up on every issue which came up at the meetings to ensure that President Akufo-Addo’s vision for the country is achieved.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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