Beyond a strong Cedi

Until the last three weeks, the Ghanaian Cedi had become the most popular currency in the world as Bloomberg declared it the worst performing currency against the United States Dollar (USD) .

This in turn made President Akufo-Addo the most vilified leader in Africa if not the whole world. His political opponents took advantage of the situation and mounted platforms to discuss the depreciated currency and its rippling effects on the citizens in a manner that portrayed him as the most incompetent president. Surprisingly, however, they never offered alternative solutions.

To incite the citizens against the Akufo-Addo led government, some politicians in the cloak of experts preached doom as they predicted further fall of the Cedi. Interestingly, however, these disguised politicians knew what the government did wrong to cause the fall of the currency but they did not know what could be done to restore it.

Since petroleum products are imported with the USD, the depreciation of the local currency caused the prices of crude products to skyrocket. The result of this is the hikes in prices of food substances that brought untold hardships on the citizens.

Sad to recall that in the wake of this national crisis, a section of the citizens put their parochial, partisan interest above that of the nation so they engaged in activities that exacerbated the situation. Thinking that the suffering of citizens brightens their electoral chances, these unpatriotic citizens, ganged up with their media allies to cause fear and panic in the Ghanaian financial market, thereby causing market players to respond in a manner that put more pressure on the Cedi, the very reason why the Head of State in his recent address to the nation in October this year passed the famous “Sika mpe dede” comment.

Regardless of whoever would have sabotaged the economy, the President still takes responsibility for the fall of the currency and its concomitant effects on the citizens. So, after consulting with the major stakeholders, whose actions and inactions contributed to the depreciation of the Cedi, he addressed the nation.

On October 30, 2022, the symbolic figure head of the land spoke to the people of Ghana. With the cloak of a Head of State, he empathized with the citizens, inspired hope in them and sought their support to restore the Covid-19 ravaged economy. He also condemned the actions that would have contributed to the fall of the currency. In simple terms, he said the Cedi had fallen in that manner because money does not like where there is noise and confusion. This is what has birthed the latest term.

Immediately after his speech, which was actually trivialized by his political opponents, the Bank of Ghana and the security operatives swiftly moved into action to implement the very measures some politicians had described as a complete joke. Here we are today! The Cedi has significantly appreciated against the USD, Euro and the Great British Pound. In fact, it is currently the best performing currency against the USD in the world.

What does the appreciation of the Cedi mean to Ghanaians? What ought to be done to ensure that the poor masses, whose political sovereignty the politicians are lusting after, benefit from the restoration of the local currency? These questions should trigger a national debate on what happens beyond the Cedis’ appreciation.

When fuel prices rose up with transport fares, the prices of consumable and other products shot up. The result of this is the untold hardships the citizens are going through. If transport fares remain where it is without falling with the petroleum products, it would not be fair to campaign for drastic reduction of prices of goods and services the poor masses patronize on daily basis. Should this happen, the appreciation of the Cedi would mean nothing to these poor masses.

This places a responsibility on the government to come out with better policies and laws to regulate the operation of the public transport sector. The current marginal reduction in transport fares is woefully inadequate to correct the recent exponential hike in prices of goods in the country.

I therefore leave the ball in the court of the Ministers of Transport and Trade and Industry to work with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that the poor masses benefit from the good management of the Cedi which has resulted in its recent restoration.

The author is a social commentator.
By Bala Ali