Australian High Commissioner, Andrew Barnes is advising Ghana to ensure loans secured from China are used for projects and programmes that generate revenue to pay them back.
Otherwise, the country risks being drowned in perpetual debt, almost impossible to come out of and one which will span generations.
Responding to a question about Ghana and China's recent increase in trade and how the Australians hope to get involved, Andrew Barnes, explained that what's important is for Ghana to engage in proper transparent deals that's in their interest.
Ghana and many other African countries are currently drawing closer to China for trade and loans for development. China appears to have an active policy to engage Africa in various trade activities.
The country has taken several loans and grants from Beijing. The recent being a proposed 50 billion dollar loan to be paid in a century. China is also to build a truck factory to produce the SinoTruck in Ghana.
There are concerns that Ghana will be drawn into a cycle of loans from China which will come with conditionalities that will give China an upper hand in the affairs of the country.
Andrew Barnes acknowledges that business deals and loans are essential for development, but cautions that they should be transparent and understandable to the ordinary Ghanaian.
He expressed the hope that such facilities will be used diligently to generate returns that will pay off the debts.
Source: ghanaweb.com
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MR COMMISSIONER THANKS FOR THE ADVICE,BUT WANT TO ASK IF AUSTRALIA HAS EVEN ASSISTED ANY OF THE AFRICAN COUNTRIES BEFORE,YOU'VE NOW REALIZED YOU NEED TO TRADE WITH GHANA BECAUSE OF OUR BAUXITE SINCE YOUR COUNTRY IS THE HIGHEST PRODUCER OF BAUXITE. THE CHINESE HAVE OVER TAKEN YOUR COUNTRY, WE DON'T NEED YOUR SUPPORT NOW.GO ELSEWHERE
Does Australia have money to give any country as loan? Imprisoning migrants on Islands!
Tell them.
'Ghana Cannot Keep Taking Endless Loans For Projects - Australian High Commissioner'. Beware of these so-called developed nations. Do they wish us well? I think they do NOT wish us well. Any good thing that will help us, they will talk EVIL against because it will take us out of poverty!
From Cathedrals to loans . Of what use will it be if we build a cathedral and still leave the city of Accra to continue flooding ? Have we forgotten so soon the 150 or more who died ? Cant we invest this amount of money into the drainage system to permanently solve the flood issue ? When the rest of the world is looking for means of livelihood for its citizens Ghana is here looking for a place to go and lazy about in the name of prayer . Dont we have enough churches and mosques in Ghana to host prayers ? Why cant we upgrade the conference centre or better still upgrade the trade fair centre to serve a multi purpose ?. We cant have a new building or structure the old ones are not properly maintained . I'm very sure some stomach pastors are misleading the president into wasting our hard earned money ?
it is very strange how Ghanaians react towards issue when it is about governance ..What this man is saying is a gospel truth that we have to hail and act on it for the government to know how serious and vigilants Ghanaian citizens have become instead of shutting him up ...let be wise as a nation or we live to be debtors till our nx generation comes
Honourable Andrew Barnes you got it all wrong,this $2 billion is not a loan that Ghana has contracted and also not going to generate interest.Ghana will off-set it with the Bauxite.Mr Andrew Barnes tell us which Africa country that your country Australia has ever helped.In your own back yard, aborigines are treated inhumanely and no court has ever protected them.Come again
AS Ghanaians as we are must think outside the box and ask questions like ...of what benefit do we get from all those aids we have seek for years ....what he is saying is a hard truth ...if the loans are going to be used as we did previously then we will stay on this planet as debtors for ever ....the loans are to be used wisely and properly but not for savings and at the end of their 4yrs ,,,they use them for campaigning for another term ....he not been a GHANAIAN HAVE SEEN WHAT lies ahead of us if we continue to take loans and aids and misuse them
I am not the least enthused about nana addo’s preference of going to china for all these loans. The Chinese are not really nice people, when it comes to money matters, going by my little experience with some of them. The npp government needs to tread cautiously; it appears nana addo is not being smart at all about these Chinese. They are very unscrupulous people; something an European or an American investor will do the Chinese will have no trouble bending the rules. Is that what we are looking for? Look at all the Chinese involved in galamsey destroying our forests and river bodies. Are these the kind of people we can trust? Hmmm!
We know what you did in the past to the aborigine inhabitant of Australia. You dont like Blacks same us South African whites. Let us develop our own way pleaseeeeee.