China remains one of Ghana’s and Africa’s responsible partners, according to Paul Frimpong, the Executive Director of the Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advisory- a Sino-African research and policy think tank and advisory firm.
Ghana is currently undergoing a debt restructuring both domestically and externally. This program is designed to help Ghana restructure its debt and is part of efforts toward securing a loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is expected to be in Beijing to begin bilateral talks with China concerning Ghana’s debt.
Without China’s help, it will be hard to restructure Ghana’s external debt, says the country’s finance minister, who estimates that China holds about a third of the country’s external debt.
In an interview with Winston Tackie on Metro TV, Paul Frimpong, the Executive Director of the Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advisory, talked about how he thought Ghana’s talks with China might turn out.
According to Mr. Frimpong, China has proven to be a responsible partner when it comes to debt relief and restructuring, especially with African countries.
“Looking at China’s track record in handling and dealing with the debt situation as it has become known, China has been a very responsible partner to many African countries.”
This, according to him, can be traced back to when countries like Ghana and many others across the African continent were in need of critical infrastructure, and China was there to provide the needed funding for these investments.
Paul also mentioned that China has recently waived debt for over 12 African countries totaling billions of dollars, as well as given them the option to withdraw from their special drawing rights (SDR) with the IMF.
Written by. Victoria Owusu-Boateng, Research Associate, ACCPA