Ghana lost about 70 million dollars in the first half of the year due to a fall in remittances from Ghanaians in the diaspora as a result of the global economic downturn, Vice President John Mahama has said.
Speaking at a roundtable on the political dimensions of the world economic crisis from an African perspective in Accra yesterday with the club of Madrid, Mr. Mahama said in spite of its daunting challenges, the crisis could position Africa as the next investment destination. The regional meeting is the fourth to be organized by the Club of Madrid, the world’s largest forum of former Heads of State dedicated to strengthening democratic values around the world.
It was attended by former Presidents John Kufuor of Ghana; Olusegun Obasajo of Nigeria; Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, and Percival Patterson, former Prime Minister of Jamaica. The meeting, discussed the impact of the crisis on the continent as well as key drivers of change to help reverse the negative effects on African economies.
Vice-President Mahama said the crisis was threatening the gains made by Africa in the constitutional and democratic milieu and even the modest achievements on the economic front. “Development partners’ commitments to scale up development assistance and even the actual disbursement of resource promised before the global crisis have seriously lagged in a situation where the same partners are understandably pre-occupied with addressing their own domestic regional economic and social problems.”
