Ghana To Use ‘Other Sources’ To Pay Back Debt If Nyinahin Bauxite Is Not Sufficient
Ghana will have to use alternative sources to pay back China’s Sinohydro Corp. for $2 billion in infrastructure if the revenue from an earmarked bauxite project is insufficient to meet installments.
Where receipts from the refined bauxite are not sufficient for the installments “the government of Ghana shall use other sources for the repayment,” the parties said in the agreement.
Where receipts from the refined bauxite are not sufficient for the installments “the government of Ghana shall use other sources for the repayment,” the parties said in the agreement.
Ghana is banking on using its untapped bauxite resources to pay for new infrastructure as the country sees out the final year of an almost $1 billion debt-bailout arrangement with the International Monetary Fund. The country’s public liabilities measured 63.8 percent of gross domestic product at the end of May, compared with 67.3 percent the year before.
“We don’t want to put $2 billion on Ghana’s books to increase our debt,” Mark Assibey-Yeboah, parliament’s finance committee chairman, told Bloomberg in an interview. “So it is Sinohydro that is contracting the entire $2 billion loan.”
Sinohydro didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
The deal between Ghana and Sinohydro is being finalized as African leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping met earlier this month to promote trade between China and the continent that totaled $170 billion in 2017. While Beijing-backed investment has provided African governments with much-needed infrastructure, it has also generated complaints about China’s preference for loans.
“Ghana has been a firm friend of China,” Akufo-Addo said in a statement after meeting Xi. “Chinese cooperation and investment in our economy are extremely essential.”
Ghana has requested proposals for a joint venture to build the refinery, which is estimated to cost $300 million, said Assibey-Yeboah. Lawmakers will debate the Sinohydro agreement later this month for parliamentary approval, he said.
Source: Bloomberg
