€250m German Cheque Dangles Question Over Govt’s  True Intentions

The Akufo-Addo Government has raised eyebrows with the announcement that it has received 250million euros from the Government of Germany which has been left obscure whether it was a grant or a loan.
 
Information about the money hit the internet in a shroud of sketchy details when Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide, touted the windfall on his Facebook Timeline, two days ago.
 
“Government of Ghana, on Tuesday, 14th January 2020, €250 million from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany to upgrade and expand the country’s electricity transmission infrastructure. Ghana again is attracting international recognition and support in a positive way…,” Hadzide said.
 
Interestingly, as of the 14th of January, when Hadzide claimed the money had hit GoG’s account, Parliament, which is the body with mandate to approve loans and grants was on recess. It is, therefore, looking like the Akufo-Addo government undertook a financial transaction with another country without recourse to the Legislature.
 
But WhatsUp News has been finding out interesting info on how the amount is a carefully carved transaction that will basically benefit Germany because the amount would mostly be utilised by Powerful German electrical and technology juggernaut, Siemens which is looking to win a contract that would position it to supply and build power generation infrastructure for the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo).
 
Memorandum of Understanding has already been signed to this effect. Apparently therefore, the €250million is a sweetener from Germany to water the grounds for Siemens to have a cakewalk to the GRIDCo deal.
 
Also, in the coming weeks, the Finance Ministry will undertake a roadshow to attract investor money that will be used to fund the infrastructure upgrade and expansion for GRIDCo. The German cash appears to be a convenient red herring that GoG is trying to use to boost the books of GRIDCo ahead of the roadshow so that potential investors may be wooed more easily.
 
Also, questions have been raised about the hushed nature of the funds, given the fact that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank has flagged Ghana for tottering dangerously on unsustainable debt levels.
 
Critics suspect the Akufo Addo administration is trying to mask the true impact of the funds from the Germans.