In the meeting, Shafei said Ghana’s economy is considered as one of the advanced economic models among the African states and its economy is the biggest in Africa after Nigeria. He went on to say that the amount of economic growth of Ghana has been very considerable and this country attaches great importance to trade.

He noted that economic and political stability in Ghana is very excellent and this stability has created great attractions for cooperation. He stated economies of Iran and Ghana can be complementary, for example, Iran has great potentials for developmental and construction projects in Ghana while Ghana is important for Iran in the field of wood, rubber and paper.

Shafei went on to say that there are other grounds for bilateral cooperation like producing medicines, cement, tile, and textile and food industries. He reiterated that one of the major problems for trade between the two states is lack of enough information for the economic activists of the two countries from capacities of the two countries. He said in the current condition, setting up of the Iran-Ghana Joint Economic Commission can be very important and both countries should strive to launch this commission as soon as possible.

Shafei stated that the policy of new government in Iran is to pay great importance to economic relations between Iran and African states and one of the active chambers of commerce in Iran, Hamedan Province Chamber, has been selected as the assisting chamber which can have considerable effects on the economic relations.

He emphasized the ICCIMA supports developing economic ties with Ghana and expressed hope the esteemed Ambassador of Ghana would help this cooperation to continue. He concluded that Hamedan Chamber of Commerce has signed a MoU with Ghana’s Chamber of Commerce and expressed hope this MoU come into effect as soon as possible.

Then Owusu-Boateng, for his part, said that the political relation between Tehran and Accra is in the highest level and both countries have shown their supports in both some mutual interest fields and in multilateral issues.

He said Ghana has had exchange of high-ranking delegation with Iran but the challenge that the country is currently facing with is that it cannot turn this warm political relation into a warm economic one and both sides should remove hurdles in order to boost their economic relation.

He noted that both countries should engage their private sectors to resolve problems and it is possible through chambers of commerce. He added that the potentials of Ghana in the economic indexes is high and some of these indexes have encouraged the international businesses to enter the country and companies like Suzuki, Kia Motors and Hyundai have invested in Ghana. He reiterated that the existing security and peace in Ghana has caused Ghana to be chosen as the top destination for foreign investment and the private sector of Iran can also join the wagon.

Owusu-Boateng then said in those fields that both countries are keen to cooperate, there is the possibility for Iranians to launch production centers in Ghana. He said that Ghana can create a condition for Iranian goods exempted from tax in Ghana to be offered in the free zones of other African countries.

He also urged ICCIMA to hold an investment webinar wherein the members of chambers of the two countries would attend to explore challenges and find ways to resolve hurdles.

He expressed hope after the sanctions are removed, a direct shipping and a direct flight between the two countries would be launched.

The Ghanaian diplomat continued to say that Ghana’s Oil Company is ready to cooperate with Iran in the field of LPG and ready for investment.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – The Governor of Iran Central Bank Mr. Abdolnasser Hemmati yesterday had a virtual meeting with Ghana’s Economy Minister and during the meeting they explored ways for boosting their banking cooperation.

In the meeting which was held upon the request of Ghanaian Economy Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, both sides exchanged views and experiences, and talked about some remained issues from the previous meeting  and about the current condition of G24 and its future as well as discussing ways for their expansion and coordination with IMF and World Bank.

By the way, both parties expressed views on forming a specialized group with participation of private sector and Mr. Hemmati welcomed the proposal for more bilateral cooperation and called for continuity of contacts between both states.

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“I hope that with regard to the political will and ample economic potentials of the two countries, we will witness further development of relations in bilateral and multilateral fields,” he noted as quoted by the official website of Iran’s Presidency.

“I wish Your Excellency health and success and the people of the Republic of Ghana prosperity and felicity,” Rouhani added.

On March 6, 1957, Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah declared independence of Ghana from the United Kingdom. Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African country to achieve independence from the UK.

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The Bank of Ghana (BoG) accused the collapsed banks of a range of issues, including poor corporate governance, questionable transactions and dishonest reporting.

The merger was just one step out of many that President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government has been forced to take in order to reform Ghana’s rotten banking sector, brought close to collapse as a result of bad governance and weak lending.

This past week, Ghana’s deputy central bank governor Elsie Addo Awadzi said in an interview that law enforcement agencies will “further investigate criminal behaviour” connected to the failed banks.

Ghana faces a “now or never” decision to clean up the banking sector, economist Eric Osei-Assibey told AFP.

“This central bank is carving a niche for itself. It is beginning to bite and that alone could engender some confidence in the medium and long term,” Osei-Assibey said.

– ‘Good progress’ –

The banking intervention will add to Ghana’s already high debt burden, said Razia Khan, Africa economist at Standard Chartered, in a note to investors earlier this month.

Ghana is currently in its final year of an IMF bailout totalling almost $1 billion, with its debt as a percentage of gross domestic product hovering over 60 percent.

Along with the Consolidated Bank loan, the central bank will give support to other banks in order to help them meet a minimum capital requirement of 400 million cedis by the end of 2018.

Despite the turmoil, “Ghana has made good progress on fiscal consolidation in recent months”, said Khan.

“The action taken to strengthen the banking system is likely to be viewed as a necessary measure by the fund and we do not expect this to disrupt disbursements under the current IMF programme,” she said.

If Consolidated Bank is run properly, it may even play a positive role in the economy, said Souhir Mzali, Africa editor at Oxford Business Group, a London-based research firm.

“It might transform from a debt burden to an asset by the time the government is expected to offload shares in 2020,” Mzali said.

– ‘Lost confidence’ –

Of course, there will be consequences.

“It’s going to affect banking habits,” said Kwesi Jonah, senior research fellow at the Institute of Democratic Governance in Ghana’s capital of Accra.

“Some people will lose confidence in the banking system altogether, other people will be more inclined to move towards the foreign banks,” Jonah said, blaming the previous administration for letting the sector rot.

“There was lack of political will to deal with the problem,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo was voted into power in 2016 on a pledge to revamp Ghana’s economy after it had to turn to the IMF for a bailout the year before.

Ghana became Africa’s fastest-growing economy in 2017 thanks to a surge in oil and gas production, recording a blistering 6.8 percent growth in the first quarter of this year.

But there is no getting away from the fact that West African gold and cocoa producer still has work to do in order to restore integrity to the tarnished financial sector.

As Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta put it this past week, the days of being “soft” on laws are over.

“Hopefully (with) what we are going to do in the banking sector, everybody will begin to realise that those periods are gone.”

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As reported, on the sidelines of the two countries’ joint economic committee, Iran-Ghana trade and investment opportunities forum was also held at the place of Ghana Export Promotion Authority, where the Iranian delegation comprised of representatives from 33 Iranian companies attended.

As discussed during the forum, Iran can expand its cooperation with Ghana in various fields including medicine, industrial machineries, and exports of petchem products, building materials, and food industry.

Ghana is capable of exporting cacao and tropical fruits to Iran.

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