Former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, has called on Ghana to take full advantage of its natural resources to prevent the country from seeking yet another bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Ghana is currently under a $3 billion Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme with the IMF, designed to restore macroeconomic stability and ensure fiscal sustainability.
Speaking to the media after the launch of the Institute of Economic Affairs’ (IEA) seminar series on reviewing Ghana’s natural resource management regime on Tuesday, September 23, Prof. Oquaye said the nation’s resource wealth, if managed prudently, could provide the fiscal space needed to end the cycle of repeated IMF interventions.
“For the 17th time, we had to go to the IMF to have what we call temporary relief, but can we go on forever in this way? That is the real thing about this particular series. 17th time, every regime, military regimes, National Democratic Congress, New Patriotic Party, whoever has been there,” he lamented.
He questioned why Ghana has consistently failed to break free from IMF dependence despite its abundant natural resources.
“As a people, what shall we apply so that we don’t go there again? We believe that salvation lies in our natural resources.
“We have got gold, diamond, oil, bauxite, timber, lithium and all these things; can we not work them to our advantage? We wouldn’t mind being a new Dubai. It’s a desert, but they have used oil to transform that society,” he suggested.
Prof. Oquaye emphasised that the seminar series seeks to spark critical conversations on how Ghana can reform its natural resource governance framework to unlock long-term economic transformation.
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