The IMF is a trap we must avoid - Dr Kofi Amoah cautions government

Dr Kofi Amoah has once again sounded the alarm bells regarding Ghana’s overreliance on the International Monetary Fund every time it finds itself in self-inflicted financial turmoil.

According to the astute businessman, the plethora of times Ghana has signed up and signed out of the IMF programme without a seismic change in fortune is a great indication that the time had come to try a different and new approach.

Speaking to GhanaWeb in an interview, Dr Kofi Amoah said plenty examples of countries that have used different approaches abound and Ghana can learn from such countries.

He said without a long-term plan to develop the local economy, any cosmetic solution will be short-lived.

He believes in the importance of having control over your natural resources as an unambiguous prelude to economic and social progress.

“The Asian countries that have succeeded had to go through a couple of decades of sacrifices to build rock-solid domestic economies upon which they could rise tall and compete effectively in the global market. Now some of them are beating the Americans and Europeans in so many fields and products.

Easy come, easy go. Our politicians have fed us on a bunch of unattainable promises…. UTOPIA WITHOUT WORK, borrow your way up whilst your land and people remain idle. I’m urging all of us to open our eyes and for once be truthful to ourselves and change course.

The fuel we need to jumpstart our development is under our feet… seize it and rise like all other nations have done to thrive.

The IMF solution falls in the same category of FREEBIES we have been fed on to our detriment and bankruptcy.”

Dr Amoah has been a vocal advocate against the excessive borrowing by successive governments, especially this NPP government.

While he says borrowing in itself is not a bad thing, he is averse to borrowing that does not stimulate growth but instead goes into capital investments like the building of interchanges which are in many cases given to foreign contractors.

This phenomenon he says is counterproductive and benefits foreign countries while impoverishing Ghanaian citizens.

Ghana is currently hoping to reach a staff-level agreement with the IMF to help the country out of a difficult economic crunch.

Africa, it’s time to use your brains n make the FINAL DECISION that will truly liberate you from the clutches of exploitative colonial capital
⁦⁦@NAkufoAddo⁩
⁦@HHichilema⁩ ⁦⁩
⁦⁦@PeterObi⁩

I URGE ALL AFRICANS TO LISTEN PLS???????? https://t.co/e2mWxUqraT

— CitizenKofi (@amoah_citizen) April 3, 2023