The plantain politics: Was Nana Addo's right?

"Most of the daily consumables such as orange, onion, tomato, garlic, plantain, carrot, ginger, garden eggs, okoro, ‘kontomire’ are imported into the country. 'Sorkodua’ (those tiny pieces of sticks that serve either as supplement for your tooth paste and tooth brush) and Plantain are imported from Cote D'Ivoire; onions from Niger; tomatoes from Burkina Faso ;garlic from china; cabbage from Togo; carrots from Togo and Holland; 'kontomire' and ginger from Togo; oranges from Egypt." (Businesss Finder July 18, 2014)

In 2010 la Cote D’Ivoire experienced war which led to the death of 3000 people and over 100,000 displaced. The country returned from war when the seventy-five year old President Quatara took over. At that time, Ghana was described AS THE FASTEST- GROWING –SINGLE- DIGIT – INFLATION- ECONOMY WHICH WAS LATER HANDED OVER TO A YOUTHFUL PRESIDENT BORN AFTER INDEPENDENCE CALLED PRESIDENT JOHN MAHAMA. UNDER THE BORN AFTER INDEPENDENCE PRESIDENT, THE-FASTEST-GROWING-SINGLE- DIGIT-INFLATION-ECONOMY now needs policy credibility to survive. Lets examine the following economic indicators of both countries.

LA COTE D’IVOIRE


INFLATION in 2010 was 1.1%, 2011(1%)
Inflation in 2014 February was -0.20%.
Inflation in February 2016 was 0.9%.
Interest Rate 2014 (3.5%), 2015 (4.25%), 2016 January (3.5%).
Budget Deficit 2012 (3.50%) in % of GDP.
Growth Rate 2012 (10.7%), 2014 (10.22%).
Debt to GDP is 34% as of 2015.
Credit rating of Ivory Coast as of 2015 was B+.
Industrial Growth as of 2013 was 21.3%.

ELECTRICITY: Stable and cheap.
Expoter of energy to Ghana.
Industrial rate charges is 13cent per kilowatt hour
Domestic rate charges is 9cent per kilowatt hour
Currency Depreciation: Stable
Taxes: low/moderate taxes
Credit Rating: rating of Ivory Coast according to Fitch is B+

AGRICULTURAL GROWTH
Agriculture contribution of Cote d’Ivoire to its GDP is 60%
Agricultural growth in 2013 was 26.3%
In 2015 Cote d’Ivoire earned over $ 12 billion from its agricultural export
The largest Cocoa producer in the world
Produced 1.6 million metric tons of cocoa in the 2014/2015 cocoa season
Per metric tons of Cocoa beans in the 2014/2015 cocoa season year was Sold at $1,540
Top 15 cashew producers in the world , Cote d’Ivoire ranked 4th with 246,282 metric tons
Top seven cashew producers in Africa (2010) Cote d’Ivoire ranked 2nd

PALM PLANTATION

Cote d’Ivoire recorded a palm oil plantation productivity of 25mt/ha
Cote d’Ivoire produces 400,000 tons of palm oil yearly
Cote d’Ivoire ranks 8th in the world
Cote d’Ivoire ranks 2nd in Africa
Cote d’Ivoire is a net exporter of orange, onions, tomato, plantain, carrot, garden eggs, okoro, cabbage, ginger, kontomire, ‘sorkodua’ (tiny pieces of sticks which serves either as supplement or replacement for your toothpaste ) ect.

Every year Cote d’Ivoire grows by 9%.
LETS LOOK AT SOME BUSINESS REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS MADE ABOUT THE ECONOMY OF COTE D’IVOIRE.

To The IMF World Economic Outlook, Cote d’Ivoire is Africa’s fastest growing economy. ( note; Ghana is not part of the first ten African countries).
Ghana lags behind Ivory Coast in top African Investment destination in 2015 – Africa business Prospect Indicator Report – 2015
The 2015 World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report stated that, it is easier doing business in Cote d’Ivoire.

“Firms Relocating to Cote d’Ivoire over Economic Crisis. I can tell you on authority that people are moving their business to Cote d’Ivoire. Ghanaian businesses have found better prospects in those countries. In Cote d’Ivoire, their currency is not suffering the way the cedi is doing and we cannot compare ourselves to them at all’’ (Austen Gamey Labour consultant, Business Finder Thursday January 21, 2016)
GHANA

INFLATION in 2016 is about 19.2%
Interest Rate 35%
Budget Deficit ($4.6 billion) GHC8.7 billion amounting to 12.1% of GDP.
Growth Rate 3.6%
Debt to GDP 76%
Credit Rating of Ghana according to Fitch is B-
AGRICULTURE.

Budget Allocation to Agriculture: 2009(3.0%), 2012(1.9%), 2013(1.09%), 2014(1.07%), 2015(1.1%. thus out of the total GH¢44 billion budget amount for 2015 only GH¢484.3million was allocated to the agric ministry).
Contribution to GDP is 19% as of September 2015.
Agriculture grew by 0.04% and the crop sector had a negative growth of – 1.7% in 2015.

In 2015 Ghana earned $2 billion in exports of its agricultural products.
Ghana is the second producer of cocoa beans (hitherto was the first).
Top 15 cashew producers in the world (2010), Ghana ranked 13th with 35,647 metric tons.

Top seven cashew producers in Africa (2010) Ghana ranked 6th
Barry Callebant Ghana ltd, a cocoa processing company, imported 15,500 tons of cocoa beans from la Cote d’Ivoire in the 2014/2015 crop year due to short falls says Finance Minister Seth Terkper. (myjoyonline 20-03-16)

In the 2014/2015 cocoa season, Ghana produced less than 700 metric tons.
Per metric ton of cocoa in the 2014/2015 cocoa season in Ghana was sold at $1,407
Under the NDC, the cocoa processing plant has been closed down due to lack of cocoa beans.
PALM OIL PLANTATION

Ghana produces 243,852 metric tons per year
Ghana ranks 15th in the world
Top 5 Palm oil producing Nation in Africa, Ghana ranked 5th. (source: Global Palm oil Conference Bogota, Colombia, 12-13 march, 2015)
Every year Ghana grows by 3.9%.
Manufacturing/industrial growth; (-0.8) 2014, ( -0.5) 2013, (-2%) 2015

ELECTRICITY: Unstable and Expensive.
High utility tariffs killing businesses-AGI.

Ghana buys 180mw from IVORY COAST to tackle Dumsor (Finder June 1,2016)

Industrial rate charges is 32.6 cent per kilowatt hour
Domestic rate charges is 19.2 cent per kilowatt hour
Be ready to pay more if you want reliable power – Mahama tell Ghanaians – myjoyonline 19th October 2015
Hoteliers cry over electricity bills:
Holiday Inn – Gh¢ 3million
Kempiski – Gh¢700,000
Movenpic – Gh¢ 600,000

‘’One particular rated hotel which for the whole year of 2015 paid GH¢1.54 million as electricity bill had to cough up GH¢1.03 million for only four months(January to April) this year.’’(BUSINESS FINDER THURSDAY MAY 26 2016.)
CURRENCY DEPRECIATION; for six years the cedi has depreciated by 227%.

TAXES: High Imposition of taxes.
SOME BUSINESS REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS MADE ABOUT GHANA’S ECONOMY:

“Businesses in Ghana were moving their production lines into Ivory Coast and Nigeria. Our environment is a real threat to doing business in Ghana so it is not surprising to learn that businesses are moving; we know that almost all products of CADBURY for instance are being produced in Nigeria and other west African Countries” (By Solomon Kotei, Secretary General of the Industrial and Commercial Union).

“Over the past few years, some companies like PZ and BAT have closed down their manufacturing plants and moved to Nigeria, choosing rather to import their finished goods into Ghana”. (Chronicle, Wednesday August 28th, 2013).

The World Bank Doing Business Report of 2015 revealed that Ghana had increased the cost of starting Business by 70% due to reforms under taken by the government in 2014 and in 2016 Ghana dropped from 112 to 114 on the ease of doing business ranking.

“Investors lose Faith In Ghana’s Economy” By Dr. Joe Abbey Executive Director of CEPA (Business Finder Thursday July 2nd, 2015).
‘’Economy Best In 2006,2007,2008,2011. 2015 Has Been The WORST says ISSER.’’ ( Business Finder May 26 2016).
‘’A reflection of the current economic hardships, many customers seen in the banking halls now go there not to save more with the banks but to withdraw the little they have stored there.’’(Business Finder July 10 2014).
Increasing loss of confidence in Ghana’s economy.Investors ditchGHc 500m three-year bond.(the newstateman June 1,2016)
IF THE ECONOMY OF GHANA IS GOOD AS PRESIDENT MAHAMA IS TRYING TO MAKE US BELIEVE,WHY HAVE THE MANAGERS OF THE ECONOMY TURNED TO THE IMF FOR POLICY CREDIBILITY? SHOULD A GOOD ECONOMY RUN TO THE IMF BEFORE IT BECOMES CREDIBLE? IF THERE ARE ENOUGH PLANTAIN IN THE COUNTRY AS OPINED BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW PLANTAIN CHIPS BY THE ROAD SIDE? NANA ADDO WAS RIGHT TO HAVE SAID THAT PLANTAIN IS NOW IMPORTED FROM COTE D’IVOIRE AND DOING BUSINESS IN COTE D’IVOIRE IS BETTER THAN DOING BUSINESS IN GHANA. Changing Mahama and the NDC, TRANSFORMING GHANA..

PAPARAZY ANDREWS ASAMOAH.
FORMER UG-TESCON PRESIDENT.
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