Monday, August 10, 2009
Mr. Ahomka Lindsay who is the Chairman of Metropolitan Insurance Company made the remarks as a panel member speaking to young students and professionals on the topic "Where is the money now?" The programme was the Students and Young Professionals African Liberty Academy (SYPALA 2009) [www.sypala.org] organized by IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, a think tank.[www.imanighana.com]
Former CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Robert Ahomka Lindsay has said that Ghana needs to make "the appropriate proposition" to take advantage of the "pool of money out there" in the international arena to speed up her development.
Mr. Lindsay said "international capital is looking for a home" and that Ghana needs to use what it has as a
"bargaining chip" to get what it wants. Before you go and look for capital outside, he observed, understand what you want. "We have to make an offer that is attractive to someone and stop making the noises that drive people away."
In his view, "we have not got the capital internally", and so going outside is not a bad idea at all. "Using someone’s money to develop your own is the best thing you can get."
In 2007, Ghana sold a ten-year Eurobond of $750 million on the international market and according to a Reuters report, the order books testified "to abundant appetite for the debut bond from the West African country and possibly for future issues from the continent.
Ghana’s success comes a day after Turkey sold $1.25 billion in 2018 Eurobonds, which were three times oversubscribed." Mr. Lindsay said the bond was a good start for Ghana and it should not end there.
Mr. Ahomka Lindsay who is the Chairman of Metropolitan Insurance Company made the remarks as a panel member speaking to young students and professionals on the topic "Where is the money now?" The programme was the Students and Young Professionals African Liberty Academy (SYPALA 2009) [www.sypala.org] organized by IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, a think tank.[www.imanighana.com]
IMANI chose the topic for discussion on this basis: "As the global economic crisis tear through Africa’s sense of isolation from the international financial system, and we begin to see unanticipated channels of exposure to the crisis, ranging from commodity-based sovereign funds to growing irregularities in remittances flow. The Nigerian stock market has been routed, and Ghana’s is in the doldrums too. Private equity is faltering and corporate Ghana is feeling the pinch from a renewed urge on the part of government to tax its way out of its budget constraints. But could it be that this moment of crisis paints the best hope out of economic mediocrity for Africa? As returns to investment and assets fall precipitously in Europe and America, could investors switch to frontier markets such as Africa? Do we sufficiently understand the current flows in financial resources to position ourselves in favourable light?"
The panel also included Pearl Esua-Mensah, Director of Finance & Administration of UT Group who expressed worry at the lack of discipline among Ghanaians which goes to affect their ability to run a business successfully. "Our basic problem is discipline. It goes into so many areas."
Using SMEs as an example, she marveled at how Ghanaians divert monies like loans for business expansion into buying cars and homes. "There is a lot of money out there for propping up SMEs," she noted, "but we are simply not disciplined enough. It is engrained in our system."