Cedi continues to depreciate because we have given up ownership of exports to foreigners – Joe Jackson

The Director of Operations at Dalex Finance, Joe Jackson has noted that the Ghanaian cedia continues to depreciate because the country has given up ownership to foreigners who export and take their money abroad.

Speaking to Joy News, Mr. Jackson bemoaned that although Ghana is doing very well with exports, it is not benefiting from foreign exchange to strengthen the cedi.

He said until Ghana takes ownership of its exports, the cedi will struggle to appreciate against foreign currencies.

“Unless we look at what the problem is…we've all said, ‘oh, Ghana likes to import. Ghana likes to import’. But, data shows that it is slowing down. Not just slowing down. It shows that for the last how many years, right? We export more than we import.

“So why is our cedi not appreciating? Because those who must enforce the law, those who must take us forward are not. We have given up ownership of our country to foreigners and when they take their money out, they don't come back,” Joe Jackson explained.

He continued, “Botswana, when they export oil, 51.8% come back into the country. Non-oil, diamonds, non-oil, diamonds. In Nigeria, when they export oil, 51% of the money comes back to the country. Check out Ghana. I'm telling you that the problem is the ownership. In fact, for our non-oil, it's as low as 6.5%. This is the problem.”

The Ghanaian cedi has depreciated significantly in the last few months with $1 now equivalent to over GHS15.

Mr. Jackson wants government to look at agreements that would allow Ghana to retain a larger portion of the profits from its exports.

This he believes will give the cedi the strength to appreciate.