[ 2016-12-12 ]

Ghana's next leader under pressure to deliver
Ghana's President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo needs to
act fast to deliver on his campaign promise to
create jobs, restore rapid growth, build a dam in
every village and a factory in every district if
he is to satisfy an electorate eager for change.

Voters gave President John Mahama just one
four-year term before they wielded the axe,
rejecting him in an election on Wednesday that
cemented Ghana's reputation for democratic
accountability in a region scarred by civil wars
and coups.

"If in three years they (the New Patriotic Party)
haven't created enough jobs they could face the
same voter backlash that Mahama faced," pollster
and newspaper publisher Ben Ephson told Reuters.

Falls in prices for Ghana's gold, cocoa and oil
exports helped sink Mahama. The country is
emerging from a fiscal crisis of elevated
inflation and debt under the supervision of an
International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

But new oil and gas is set to come onstream in
2017 and 2018 from a $7.9 billion offshore field
being developed by Italy's ENI which the
government says will boost revenue and aid
longstanding domestic power problems.

At the same time, a recovery in gold prices in the
past year should help Ghana's major gold producers
who include Newmont, while cocoa farmers say they
are hoping for a strong 2016-17 crop.

In a victory speech on Friday, Akufo-Addo, a
former foreign minister, acknowledged the pressure
to deliver for impatient voters.

"I make this solemn pledge to you tonight: I will
not let you down. I will do all in my power to
live up to your hopes and expectations," he said.

Source - The Business & Financial Times

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