IMF DEAL What: Will The Akufo Addo Government Do?

Nana Akuffo Addo

By Duke Tagoe

Officials in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) say they are ready for talks with the new Government in Ghana over the deal they made with the Mahama administration.

An official who spoke to the International media said their team will be on its way to Accra as soon as Parliament approves the appointment of the new Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Affori Atta.

Whiles in opposition, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) partially blamed the bailout deal with the IMF for the worsening of the unemployment situation.

The claimed that the cap on public sector employment did not allow recruitments into the civil and public services.

The NPP was also stoutly opposed to the periodic increases in petroleum prices and utility tariffs as well as what they described as the high levels of taxation.

The IMF is still insisting on fiscal prudence and is not likely to accept any substantial and immediate the reduction of taxes unless, the new government is able to come up with an alternative strategy for increasing government revenue.

Currently more than 50 per cent of national revenue is spent on the payment of public sector wages and salaries.

This figure is expected to increase by between six to ten per cent following recent recruitment of teachers and nurses and increases in public sector wages and salaries.

The question is, can the Akufo- Addo government convince the IMF to soften its stand on economic “prudence?

Editorial

AN IMF DEAL AGAIN

Ghana embarked upon the neo-liberal path to economic recovery under the marching orders of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in 1983.

The consequences of this move have been disastrous for the people of Ghana.

The prices of all goods and services have been rising steadily since then. The national currency has been devalued by more than 30,000 per cent and more than 400 state enterprises have been privatised.

It is against this background that we felt very uneasy about the deal the Mahama administration made with the IMF under the guise of an economic “bail out”.

Happily the New administration under the leadership of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says that it recognises that the deal is inimical to the interest of Ghana.

The Insight hopes that the Akufo-Addo administration will not go back on its word and would take steps to pull out of the deal.

This is the very minimum Nana Akufo-Addo and his government can do to free the Ghanaian economy from IMF control. 

2nd Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Intellectual & Cultural Festival

Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah

By Horace Campbell

This festival, under the theme of Global Africa 2063, is seeking to rekindle the ideals of African redemption in troubling times. Starting from the goals and aspirations of the African Union in Agenda 2063, this festival seeks to draw inspiration from Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah while ensuring that the conditions and freedom of the peoples of Africa within the wider international community are not left out in the call for freedom and independence of Africans. 

We want to welcome you to be an active participant in the second Kwame Nkrumah Pan African Intellectual and Cultural Festival to be held at the University of Ghana, June 25- July1 2017. This festival, under the theme of Global Africa 2063, is seeking to rekindle the ideals of African redemption in troubling times. Starting from the goals and aspirations of the African Union in Agenda 2063, this festival seeks to draw inspiration from Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah while ensuring that the conditions and freedom of the peoples of Africa within the wider international community are not left out in the call for freedom and independence of Africans. In this sense, the festival draws from the ideas of Nkrumah and Marcus Garvey who both argued of the inextricable linkages between the fortunes of Africans at home and abroad.

This festival ‘Global Africa 2063’ builds on the ‘harvest of artistic- educational events’ from the first Kwame Nkrumah Intellectual and cultural festival which was held at the University of Ghana in 2010. That Festival focused attention on the education of the youth and in the context of the growing struggles around education in Africa, this second Festival will also focus on education for transformation. This festival will involve youth from all parts of the African continent and from all parts of Global Africa. We anticipate major cultural events with dance performances, musical concerts, drama as well as film shows.

The Pan African conference that will be a central part of this intellectual festival will interrogate major questions for the Global Pan African Movement as outlined in the sub themes of this festival. We welcome all who are working for a free and united Africa with the freedom and emancipation of Africans everywhere.

In this welcome we re- echo the statement of Kwame Nkrumah at the opening of the OAU in 1963

“Our objective is African union now. There is no time to waste. We must unite now or perish. I am confident that by our concerted effort and determination, we shall lay here the foundations for a continental Union of African States.”

We are taking that further to cement the union of the peoples of Africa at home and abroad.

For more details visit the link below:

http://www.iasnkrumah.com/index.php/en/

Burkina Faso Against GMO

Dr Akoto Osei Afriyie, Agric Minister Designate

By Guz Trompiz

Burkina Faso estimates its production of raw cotton for the 2016-17 harvest will rise by 25 percent compared to the previous harvest as favorable rainfall boosts output, the country's agriculture minister said on Monday.

The west African country's growers had reverted entirely to conventional cotton for the new crop, after blaming a genetically modified (GM) variety supplied by U.S. seed maker Monsanto for a decline in cotton quality.

The 2016-17 harvest, which is expected to total 750,000 tonnes, was showing improved quality as well as production, minister Jacob Ouedraogo told reporters in Paris.

Burkina Faso's cotton producers had complained that increased levels of short fibers in their GM cotton had impacted its market value, and last April announced they were seeking 48.3 billion CFA francs ($78 million) in compensation from Monsanto.

Monsanto has acknowledged changes in cotton fiber length, but argued that fiber quality is also influenced by environmental conditions and that other cotton varieties have shown length variations.

The talks between Burkina's producers and Monsanto were continuing, Ouedraogo added.

The minister was in Paris to sign an agreement with French partners, including a foundation of oilseed group Avril, to develop a soybean sector in Burkina Faso.

The project aims to raise soybean production, currently marginal in the country, to 100,000 tonnes over the next five years and also nurture a domestic processing industry to keep jobs and revenues in the country, said Ouedraogo.

Iran reports higher oil sales to BP, Shell

Mohsen Qamsari

Iran says it has increased its sales of crude oil as well as condensate – a type of very light crude produced from gas fields – to global energy giants Shell and BP. 

Director for International Affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Mohsen Qamsari was quoted by the domestic media as saying that Shell and BP had purchased two to three consignments of oil from Iran over the past few months.

Each consignment, Qamsari added, comprises around one million barrels of oil. 

The official added that the sales to the two had been carried out through spot contracts.

Qamsari further emphasized that Iran expected to increase oil sales to Shell and BP in the near future through more spot contracts.

He added that talks were also underway with both companies over long-term sales deals. 

Elsewhere in his remarks, Qamsari said that Iran’s average oil exports in 2016 stood at around 2 million barrels per day. 

Iran’s media reported that the country’s current crude oil production was close to 4 million barrels per day, almost the same as before sanctions were imposed against the country in 2011.  

Iran exports the bulk of its crude oil to Asian consumers including India, China, South Korea and Japan. 

Figures released earlier this week showed that Iran’s oil exports to its Asian clients had doubled in November compared to the same period last year. 

A report by Reuters to the same effect showed that the four major Asian consumers of Iran’s oil had imported a total of 1.94 million barrels per day of oil from the country in November. The figure, the report added, was higher than last year by 117 percent.