After IMF deal, Ghana faces high-stakes debt talks [Business Africa]

Ghana has had to run to the IMF 17 times since independence - that’s roughly once every four years on average.

This time though, securing a bailout package from the multilateral lender was the easier part.

There's still a ton of work for Ghana's leaders to do to convince creditors to provide over $22 billion in debt relief- not least because a significant portion of Accra's external debt is held by private lenders who want all their money back.

76% of Ghana's external debt is held by commercial lenders including bondholders. Multilateral development banks also hold a significant portion of Ghana's debt, followed by the Paris Club and China.

Ghana is also in default which makes reaching an agreement on debt relief even harder, with bondholders especially hesitant to give any concessions, not to mention the geopoliticization of debt.

Professor Theophilus Acheampong is an economist and a visiting Senior Fellow at the Africa Policy Research Institute.

He joins the show with insights on the complex debt restructuring negotiations between Accra and its creditors.

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Manufacturers, retailers and suppliers all prefer to settle in the US dollar with only a small fraction of transactions being completed in the local currency.

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