Ghana President Seeks Re-Election to Build on Economic Gains
Ghana President to Seek Ruling Party’s Nomination for 2020 Vote
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said he’ll seek re-election, as campaigning for next December’s vote gets underway in the West African nation.
Akufo-Addo, 75, told broadcaster Citi FM he wants a second four-year term to continue “all the strong work that is going into reconstructing our economy and laying the foundation for agriculture and for industry.” The ruling New Patriotic Party plans to hold its presidential primaries in April.
If he’s nominated, the former lawyer will face predecessor John Dramani Mahama of the main opposition National Democratic Congress in a third consecutive poll. The two parties have dominated Ghanaian politics for decades, and previous ballots have been too close to call.
Since coming to power in 2017, Akufo-Addo has presided over an average economic-growth rate of more than 6%, boosted by a burgeoning oil industry and a slowdown in inflation to the lowest rates in at least six years. That marked a turnaround from the Mahama era, when growth slowed to the weakest pace in more than two decades.
Despite the economic gains under Akufo-Addo, 59% of Ghanaians say the country “is going in the wrong direction,” according to a poll by research company Afrobarometer published Nov. 29. The majority said the government isn’t doing enough to curb inequality, improve living standards and create jobs.
While it will be difficult for Mahama and the NDC to present themselves as the better custodians of the economy, the election could still be closely contested if the party “presents a coherent opposition and holds the NPP to account on unfulfilled campaign promises,” the Economist Intelligence Unit said in a Nov. 1 report.
Persistent revenue shortfalls have forced the NPP to cut spending on infrastructure, a key pledge of its 2016 campaign, and the building of at least one factory in each of Ghana’s 216 districts.
Ghana has many undecided voters who could give either the NDC or the NNP the support they need for victory, said Seidu Alidu, a senior lecturer in political sciences at the University of Ghana.
“Next year’s election is not a done deal for any of the main parties,” he said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ekow Dontoh in Accra at edontoh@bloomberg.net;Andre Janse van Vuuren in Accra at ajansevanvuu@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andre Janse van Vuuren at ajansevanvuu@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson, Pauline Bax
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.