Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo has said Ghana risk dropping out of the top 10 investment destinations in Africa due to the poor policies of the government.

According to Mr Adongo Ghana has dropped in the latest ranking of investment destinations in Africa as released by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) of South Africa.

Mr. Adongo’s lecture, which was organised by the Coalition For Restoration (CFR), a pressure group affiliated to the National Democratic Congress, was under the theme: ‘Ghana’s rising fiscal risks, financial crunch and external vulnerabilities: A post-mortem of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Programme and a preview of the economy without the International Monetary Fund (IMF).’

The event was Chaired by Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, with former President John Dramani Mahama as the Guest of Honour.

Comparing the rankings to what was achieved during the tenure of former President John Dramani Mahama, Mr Adongo in his address, faulted the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for retarding growth in the economic environment.

Speaking at a public lecture on Ghana’ economy in Accra on Thursday, 4 April 2019, Mr Adongo said: “During the tireless efforts of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama the least we ever got was a fourth and by 2018 it came to fifth. Your Excellency, at some point in time we were third on the list for destination of investing in Africa and due to your tireless effort to improve the economic environment by leveraging our resources to improve our infrastructure and improve competitiveness, Ghana was seen as a safe haven for investment. Today, as we speak, we have declined from the fifth to the ninth, we are at risk of falling out of the top 10 investment destinations in Africa.”

He further criticised Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for singing “this kind of disgrace” instead of focusing on policies to reverse the trend.

Isaac Adongo says issues raised by Dr Bawumia during the town hall meeting, was a rehash of what President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said when he presented the 2019 State of the Nation Address in Parliament.

“The people of Ghana were served with what we already knew . . .  They are still delivering lectures in government when they are supposed to manage the economy . . . we had a second State of the Nation address yesterday after the President had gone to parliament to give his State of the Nation address,” Hon. Adongo said.

Mr Adongo further indicated that efficient infrastructure is the backbone for leveraging investment and for creating sustainable opportunities for the people; a policy which former President Mahama pursued but mocked by the leadership of the NPP.

For him, Mr Mahama has been vindicated by international reports such as was contained in the RMB.

Mr Adongo said the RMB report was definite that while Ghana’s competing neighbours such as Cote d’Ivoire are improving in terms of economic and business environment “we have stagnated and declined”.