The Successful Story Of The Sinohydro Deal And The Bawumia Factor

For the four successive times the president of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo nominated the current vice president of Ghana, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as his running mate, he was categorical that his resolved decision to pick him as his partner in the elections was premised on the fact that Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is an astute economist who will bring his economic prowess to bear to solve the major systemic problems of the nation. Almost all or many of the top-notch members of the NPP touted Dr. Bawumia as a seasoned economist. His deep knowledge of the subject matter of economics, predictions of the economy, and solutions he proffered to the economic challenges of Ghana earned him the title " The Economic Messiah"

Indeed, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia since becoming the vice president of Ghana has proved right all the accolades accorded him in the field of economics. Realistically, he has brought to bear his in-depth knowledge in the area of economics to solve major problems bedeviling Ghana. To admit, one area among others that he has been sterling in applying his economic ability to solving Ghana's systemic problems is the game-changing deal, The Sinohydro arrangement he sealed for Ghana. Undoubtedly, the Sinohydro arrangement which is the brainchild of Dr. Bawumia is innovative and outside-the-box thinking. The deal deviates from the traditional mode of African countries securing direct foreign currency loans to fuel their developmental projects which come with strict and draconian conditionalities that are detrimental to their fiscal and economic management. The Sinohydro deal is a new arrangement that comes with many infrastructural developments without adding a dime to the debt stock of Ghana. With the arrangement or deal, Ghana will leverage a fraction of her bauxite for a worth of 2 billion dollars in infrastructural development.

This ingenuity of Dr. Bawumia dazed many Ghanaians who were used to the usual practice of successive governments before the Nana Addo government contract loans with high interest and conditionalities from foreign countries and the Bretton Wood institutions to undertake developmental projects. The minority caucus in Ghana's seventh parliament led by their leader, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, had to write a letter on 10th August 2018 to the International Monetary Fund( IMF) to seek clarification on the Sinohydro arrangement between Ghana and China as to whether it was a loan and will add up to the debt stock of Ghana or not and that the IMF should intervene in stopping the deal to become a reality. They took to this step despite the riched explanation of the arrangement offered to them by the ingenious and game-changing Dr. Bawumia. They simply have not ever heard about such an arrangement before or know that such an arrangement can exist.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DEAL

The Sinohydro Master arrangement which is novel in Ghana's politics and governance system has helped the government to undertake a massive infrastructural development in almost all the sixteen administrative regions in Ghana. The arrangement is divided into phases and each phase comprises many lots. The first phase of the deal comprises ten Engineering, procurement, and construction contracts for 442km of roads and two interchanges. The Northern part of Ghana and Western part of Ghana have had their first-ever interchange located precisely in Tamale and Takoradi respectively with that of Tamale fully completed and in use while that of Takoradi is currently under construction. The following feeder roads in the Ashanti region, Mpatasia- Abompe- 10km, Kwanfinfin- Apenemade- 14.2km, the Nyinahin- Sreso- 14.5km, Nyinahin town roads- 7.6km, the Adobewora- Ntoboso- 4km and the Tanodumase- Anansu road is constructed and commissioned. The construction and rehabilitation of the 88km Hohoe- Jasikan-Dode Pepesu road which has been on the drawing board of successive governments since the day Ghana attained independence has gained some life and is almost completed. The Kumasi Inner City Road Project, a 100km road project has seen the upgrading and construction of town roads within Kumasi, Kwadaso, Bantama, Suame, Tafo- Pankrano, Asokwa, Oforikrom, Subin, Nyiaeso, Manhyia, Effiduase, and Asokore. The construction of the 29km Sunyani inner city and 10km Berekum township roads, the 22km Cape Coast township road and 10km Prestea township roads are under construction and the rehabilitation of the 38km New Abirem- Ofoasekuma roads are ongoing. The second phase is made up of more roads, bridges, interchanges, district hospitals, and infrastructural support to industry, schools, rural electrification, sanitation, and the judiciary.

ROLE OF BAWUMIA IN THE DEAL

Faced with a debilitated economy inherited from the NDC in 2017, the Nana Addo/ Bawumia government looked for other means to propel development aside from the usuals of successive governments in Ghana. The Vice President as the head of the Economic Management Team was innovative in his thinking and came out with a plan which got the endorsement of the president of Ghana. He(Bawumia) led a high-powered government delegation to China and reached the deal.

This is evidenced in a remark by the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana H. E. Madam Sun Baohong at the National Day Reception in Celebration of the 68th anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China on 27/20/2017 in Accra. She started inter alia "........ The office of H. E Vice President Dr. Bawumia coordinates China- Ghana economic cooperation which provides political guarantee at a very high level....... In June, Vice President Dr. Bawumia led a large declaration to visit China and held fruitful talks and meetings with Chinese national leaders. The two sides reached several consensuses on cooperation in the area of investment, financing, infrastructure, and energy". The Vice President since broking the deal in 2017 has successfully coordinated it that saw its success. On Thursday, 21st November 2019, Dr. Bawumia cut sod for the construction of the Cape Coast township roads. He did the same for the Sunyani and Berekum township roads on Thursday, September 24, 2020. On Friday, March 25, 2022, he commissioned the first Sinohydro roads in Ashanti and Western region and cut sod for the construction of the Kumasi Inner City roads project under the deal. The sod cutting for the Hohoe- Jasikan- Dode Pepesu road was done by the Vice President. The office of the Vice President explained and cleared all lies that the adversaries of the Nana Addo/ Bawumia government attempted to smear on the deal.

Iddi Adam Osman

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