Prominent economist Godfred Bokpin has raised concerns about Ghana’s reputation in the international financial community, warning that the country could face a significant decline in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) if the current financial issues are not addressed.
Bokpin cautioned that inadequate management of the situation could lead to severe financial difficulties for Ghana.
This warning comes in the wake of comments from US-based Ghanaian comedian Michael Blackson, who expressed frustration with Ghana’s Ministry of Finance over the default on Eurobond payments.
Blackson, who invested in Ghana’s Eurobond to support his charitable initiative, the Michael Blackson Academy in Agona Nsabah, criticized the financial mismanagement.
In response to Blackson’s remarks, Professor Bokpin emphasized that Ghana’s mishandling of its financial commitments is damaging its reputation with international investors, which could have long-term effects on the country’s economic stability.
“The way we have managed our affairs, we are losing favour with the international financial community and a good example is COCOBOD.
There is so much unpredictability in the cocoa sector right now. As such, our cocoa production in the 2020/2021 crop season was more than 1 million metric tonnes.
“As we speak right now, we have revised it downwards to be lower than that figure.
What signal does that send to the investment community even at the global level? If we are not careful, it may filter through other FDI loans to Ghana and we will end up paying heavily,” he stated.
