Publish full report on GT-Vodafone deal

Page 3
06-08-08

A Ghanaian international economist, Professor Tetteh Ahenakwa Kofi, has challenged the government to publish the full report of its transaction adviser, Ecobank Development Corporation, on the proposed sale of 70 per cent of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone for $900 million.
Prof. Kofi, who is a Professor of Economics at the University of San Francisco in the US, said “the government should publish and give the statistical data in order for us to understand the logic behind the sale”, adding that it would enable economists like himself to analyse the data and respond appropriately.
Reacting to the 24-hour ultimatum given by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, he alternatively proposed what he called a national mobilisation strategy, through which Ghanaians home and abroad who were of the working age would be made to contribute to the recapitalisation of GT.
“We should use this as a populist strategy to save other sectors of the economy from collapse,” he said.
“We can restructure GT ourselves. We can provide the funding by asking Ghanaians of workable age to provide funds to save GT,” he stated.
He said a similar strategy was used by Finland to build its economy in 1899, adding that Finland had the highest standard of living in Europe today.
He said under the populist development strategy or national mobilisation, all institutions would be made to contribute to the exercise.
“I will campaign in the United States for Ghanaian scholars and students working, and we can raise whatever money the sale of GT would bring,” he emphasised, and expressed the conviction that workers would be laid off when Vodafone took over.
Prof. Kofi said the US Democratic presidential candidate, Barrack Obama, was able to raise funds through a similar strategy by appealing to the youth.
He said it was not possible for Ghanaians to control GT with the remaining 30 per cent as stated by the Finance Minister, adding that to “control a multi-national, you need to own 51 per cent of shares”.
Prof. Kofi, who recently launched a book, The Saga of African Underdevelopment, said Vodafone was a profitable business enterprise and was going to make money from GT.
He said the logic behind the sale of GT was false, and alleged that the elite over the years had sold state assets under the cover of privatisation.