US President Barak Obama is a very popular man in Ghana. Millions of Ghanaians celebrated his success in last November’s US election that put the first black man ever into the White House.
Shortly after the election, T-shirts, car stickers and other souvenirs went on sale in Ghana and were snapped up quickly.
So when the glistening Air Force One touches down at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra on 10 July, President Obama and his wife, Michelle, can expect nothing but a tumultuous welcome. Not least because Ghanaians feel a sense of pride for their country being picked by President Obama for his first official visit to Africa.
Why not? Ghana blazed the trail as the beacon of hope in the decolonization era with the country’s charismatic first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, being the arrow head in the struggle for independence of African countries.
It did not come as a surprise, therefore, that Ghana became the first country so uth of the Sahara to achieve independence on 6 March, 1957. And after unpleasant moments with military coups and counter coups, Ghana has, since 1992 when it began anoth er journey on the multi-party democratic road, shown that its democratic credentials are being strengthened.
The White House said the US was using the visit to strengthen its relations with “one of our most trusted partners”, while the government of Ghana has described the visit as historic and significant in all dimensions.
Koku Anyidoho, Head of Communications at the Presidency, believes the increasing attention being given to Ghana by the international community is indicative of the recognition by world leaders of Ghana’s meaningful democratic culture and President John Evans Atta Mills’ effective and efficient style of administration.
Indeed, government officials, entrepreneurs and politicians across the political divide are calling for the country to reap the utmost benefit from the two-day visit, the third successive visit by as many US presidents after Bill Clinton (1988) and George B ush (2008).
Information Minister Zita Okaikoi, echoing the sentiments of Ghanaians, said Ghana was privileged to have the first Black-American President visiting the country and added that the event would have a long term impact on the country.
She also expressed the belief the President Obama’s visit would go a long way to boost the tourism industry and the economy in general.
A retired Ghanaian diplomat, Mr K.B. Asante, and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Akwasi Osei-Adjei, believe President Obama’s is to reward Ghana’s leadership role in Africa and urge President Mills and the government to take advantage of the visit to present Africa’s case to the US President with regard to fighting t h e scourge of poverty, hunger, disease and under-development in general.
Mr Asante wants the government to depart from the “beggar mentality” to a “posture of confidence” in dealing with its American guests, while Mr Osei-Adjei stressed the need to discuss issues, such as how the US could assist Ghana to tackle the drug menace.
But the economy will be high on the agenda at bilateral talks, as Ghana needs massive investment and assistance to climb out of the world economic crisis.
Already, there are signs of a favourable response from bilateral and multilateral sources of help, the latest being a US$535 million package approved the World Bank aimed at helping Ghana to improve economic governance and stabilize the economy.
Finance and Economic Planning Minister Kwabena Duffuor said recent negotiations with the multilateral institutions have produced an inflow of US$1.2 billion bud g etary and project support from the World Bank, and a possible US$1.0 billion from the Inte rnational Monetary Fund (IMF) for balance of payments support.
Duffuor, summarising the challenges, said the economy at the end of 2008 was characterised by severe imbalances, reflected in the fiscal deficit which widened from 9% of GDP in 2007 to 14.9% of GDP in 2008.
“The 2008 deficit does not include expenditure arrears running into millions of cedis (local currency) we are currently uncovering,” he said.
The country therefore needs investment and Duffuor was happy that available information from the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) showed that foreign direct investment increased during the first quarter of this year.
The GIPC said total new investments for the first quarter of this year amounted to US$372.32 million, comprising US$363.34 million worth of re-investments (capital goods imported) and US$8.98 million equity transfers for new projects registered.
This reflects an increase of 45.1% over the total new investments for the corresponding quarter in 2008, and was a direct result of the efforts being made by the Government to restore stability and confidence in the economy.
Analysts said with adequate diplomatic contact, Ghana will reap the economic benefits of the visit of President Obama - the man recently voted the top global political leader in a poll of 20 nations conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org - long after he has flown back home.
Accra - 02/07/2009
By Mawusi Afele, PANA Correspondent
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