Akufo-Addo Berates Credit Rating Agencies For Worsening Plight Of Struggling African Economies

• Nana Akufo-Addo has criticised credit rating agencies like Fitch and Moody's for worsening the economic situation of Africans
• The president told world leaders at the 77th UN General Assembly that the global finance system is skewed against African countries
• He advocated a review of the global financial system that he says unfairly favours rich countries

President Nana Akufo-Addo has called out the what he says is injustice by credit rating agencies against already struggling African economies.

Speaking to world leaders at the 77th UN General Assembly, Nana Akufo-Addo said already, the global financial system is skewed significantly against African economies like Ghana.

He observed for instance that the avenues opened to developed nations to enable them take measures that would ease pressures on their economies are closed to African nations.

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“To make matters worse, credit rating agencies have been quick to downgrade economies in Africa, making it harder to service our debts. The tag of Africa as an investment risk is little more than, in substance, a self-fulfilling prophecy created by the prejudice of the international money market, which denies us access to cheaper borrowing, pushing us deeper into debts,” he stated.

The theme of the 77th UN General Assembly is “A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges.”

Nana Akufo-Addo expressed concern that the financial markets have been set up and operate on rules designed for the benefit of rich and powerful nations.

“…during times of crisis, the façade of international co-operation, under which they purport to operate, disappears,” he was blunt.

He said as the world emerges from the grip of the coronavirus to energy and food price hikes, and a worldwide rise in the cost of living, the world must learn lessons.

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“The necessity for reform of the system is compelling,” Akufo-Addo stressed.

Recently, Fitch, a credit rating agency downgraded Ghana's Long-Term IDR to 'CCC' from 'B-'.

Akufo-Addo Praises Kwame Nkrumah’s Vision of African Unity At UN General Assembly

YEN.com.gh has reported in a separate story that Akufo-Addo lauded Ghana’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, at the UN General Assembly for making African unity a driving force of his political career.

Akufo-Addo told world leaders that today, more than ever, Nkrumah’s dream of a United States of Africa has become critical.

He urged African leaders to see lasting opportunities in the challenges that the current global economic crisis presents.

Source: YEN.com.gh