Well done President Mills in your 100 days in office!

Well the first 100 days of the Mills administration have come and gone in Ghana. Regardless of your political leanings, whether New Patriotic Party, National Democratic Congress, and Convention People's Party you have to give the Atta Mills led administration some credit. We have now avoided what seems to be an economic depression the people of Ghana were experiencing, which was as a result of some wrong economic policies the Kuffour led government undertook.

After a scary start in which the Mills led government did not appear to have a real handle on the economic crisis, thank God the current government has settled in and has thrown every piece of recovery polices that they could find at this economy in order to avoid a really severe economic meltdown.

Credit to Dr. Kwabena Duffour and his Finance team for planning and implementing good economic policies so far, which in the long run would generate oxygen for all those sighs of economic recovery out there, his fearless policies based on consultation with stakeholders in the Ghanaian economy, has really made the big difference. Unemployment is slowing, the economy seems to be stabilizing, and the Ghana stock exchange is up 10% on the year.

The other good news is that the Ghanaian consumer confidence has increased, and that light we see, is a good prospect for the country, now people are willing to do business in the country, the banks are also willing to loan money to business entrepreneurs, which in the previous government was declining as a result the banks were not lending money to their fellow Ghanaian customers.

The only bad news in the 100 days of the Mills led government is that of inflation and a stagflation sign which is starting to appear in the Ghanaian economy. Fuel price is up nearly 10% off its lows, the cedi is starting to weaken, and interest rates are starting to rise. These will be the major hurdles in this economic recovery that President Mills needs to look at if he wants to leave a legacy for the people of Ghana. So the government cannot go on printing money forever. We are still a long way off from a Healthy Economy! But I have firm confidence in the Mills government to deliver by the end of the first term in office.

An advice for Ghanaian Businessmen for the next 4 years

Fellow businessmen be careful in your day to day activities as the country enter into this recession. Please do not fully trust that the government would come to your aid because they are also facing the same problem you are facing, so believe in yourself and do not depend on government for support. Also realize that this is not the time to go back on automatic pilot with blind optimism. There will still need to be real economic growth and real profits from a lot of sectors before the government can come to the aid of the private sector.

Secondly lean towards emerging markets and do not depend solely on United States and European markets. China will most likely lead the world out of this global recession, and there is a lot of money being poured into these economies, so fellow Ghanaian Businessmen try and join the Asian market and reap the trade benefits the Chinese are enjoying

In conclusion, fellow Ghanaians support the Mills government as we seek to ensure that we move away from the donor-recipient relationship with the developed world, to a new partnership based on mutual respect as well as shared responsibility and accountability.

God bless Ghana!
Author: Paul Rex Danquah
East London