Kwesi Botchwey in Thick of Things

Dr. Kwesi Bothwey, the academic credited with helping the Rawlings PNDC and NDC gain respectability in international economic and financial circles, who later had to leave under most acrimonious circumstances is back in town and this time in the company of Ghana's new Finance Minister.

At the time of his resignation, it was widely believed that Rawlings had to decide between him and Tsatsu Tsikata (The Financial Wizard) and it was Tsikata who won. Dr. Botchwey, it was reported then, had disagreed with how Mr. Tsikata was using the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC) to haemorrhage the economy and made his position known. This did not sit well with Rawlings, and Dr. Botchwey had to pay the price.

Since leaving, he has been teaching and doing consulting jobs in the US.

Last Friday, in the company of Mr. Yaw Osafo Maafo, Minister of Finance, he led a four-man team of advocates of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to pay a courtesy call on the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama. Speaking at the meeting, Mr Osafo-Maafo said the country had to go beyond achieving a favourable macro-economic environment to make it a prosperous one.

"It is necessary for us to achieve a stable macro-economic environment, but that is not sufficient to achieve development and remove poverty.

We need growth exceeding three to four per cent and heavy inflows of FDI would help to achieve this." Mr Osafo-Maafo said Asian countries, which had pursued similar programmes as Ghana had performed better because of their ability to attract FDI.

Showing Ghana's newfound politics of inclusion, Osafo Maafo appealed to Dr. Botchwey and his team to encourage the inflows of FDI into Ghana.

Other members of the team included Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University, Jamie Drummond of Jubilee 200 and Bono, the rock star of U2 fame who is also a campaigner for relief and aid for Africa.

Dr Botchwey presented a copy of a report of a study he undertook with Prof. Sachs and others, to the Vice President, which recommends a substantial increase in funds for poor countries to finance their health budgets. He said he recommended Ghana as a model for such assistance because of her economic performance.

Prof. Sachs said the team was interested in assisting Ghana to strategise for economic growth and would also seek investment from Europe and the United States for her.

The Vice President urged the team to share its ideas with Ghana, which is on the way to economic recovery and work towards the debt cancellation of her debts.