News wires reported today that Ghana was planning a mid-year Eurobond bond to strengthen public finances. I wonder however, how the markets will price this bond on the back of…
This week, international news media reported that France’s Total had struck oil on the CI-100 block off Ivory Coast adjacent to Ghana’s giant Jubilee Field. The block is very close…
Assuming two definitions of over votes: Votes Cast (VC) > Registered voters on the roll (R) Votes Cast (VC) > Number of valid ballots issued to voters (B) (not including…
One positive thing I came across last week was the Ghana Open Data initiative. This initiative facilitated by the Ministry of Communications and spearheaded by the National Information Technology…
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” ― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut! Today, I…
So President Obama last night enacted wide-ranging $85 billion spending cuts in a bid to close the deficit. Total public debt in the US was approximately $11.822 trillion or about…
The last time we were told our inability to import crude oil for the refinery was due to difficulties with raising letters of credit (LC’s) as a result of arrears…
From the perspective of many risk averse banks and local financial institutions, it is better though not optimal in the short run to lend to the government for a fundamentally…
Governance is about making the right policy choices that puts emphasis on economic growth and economic freedoms. The two are not mutually exclusive; policy decisions are the fulcrum upon which…
Last week, I was astounded and inspired by the story of 15-year-old Kelvin Doe (aka DJ Focus) from Sierra Leone on YouTube. Within two weeks, the video has generated over…
Ethiopian Airlines has been able to raise its own debt and finance its own expansion without government cash. It is the first carrier outside Japan to operate the new Boeing 787…
Norway today ranks top in every major human development metric and it didn’t occur by chance. Rather, it had a concerted policy in place to develop a national petroleum industry,…
Rising commodity prices buoyed by an insatiable demand from China et al have pushed African commodity exports to all-time high. Mobile technologies and a rising middle class with extra consumer…
The economy of Brazil is bigger than the economy of all 54 African countries put together! Going a bit granular, Brazil’s economy is 2 times bigger than the economy of the…
Many African countries benefited from debt relief over the last ten years, but Kenya’s macroeconomic success is home-made. In 2003, Kenya’s debt stood at 60 percent of GDP. Then, through…