The disappointing performance of the US dollar against the Ghana cedi, the country’s currency, is now a hot topic in Ghana.
GhanaWeb has stumbled upon an old newspaper article that describes how the nation’s first president and prime minister, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, also moved for dollars to be invested in Ghana. This is in response to calls for more foreign currency to be pushed into the system to help with the balance.
The newspaper from October 1, 1958, with the headline “Ghana and the U.S. Sign Investors’ Pact…
According to the Daily Graphic account, Peter Rutter, the Charge d’Affaires of the American Embassy in Ghana, met with Nkrumah to “promote the flow of funds.”
“An Investment Guarantee Agreement Programme designed to encourage private American investment in Ghana was signed between the governments of the United States and Ghana at Government House, Osu, yesterday.
“Premier Kwame Nkrumah and Mr. Peter Rutter, Charge d’Affaires of the American Embassy in Ghana, signed the agreement on behalf of their governments,” it read in part.
Content of the signed document:
The newspaper report also stated the full details of what was contained in the document that the two officials signed on behalf of their countries.
It stated it as:
“Under the agreement, private American investment abroad may be guaranteed by the U.S. government against possible losses due to conversions to dollars, expropriation or confiscation and war damages. “The agreement is intended to get both the United States of America and Ghana governments to agree on procedures regarding local currency and other claims which may be invoked by American investors under the investment guarantee programme.”
More investment into Ghana:
The report continued that the agreement also meant that investors could begin investing in the country with as low as $10,000.
It continued that since it was a pact to ensure more investments came into the economy, it was not applicable to existing businesses at the time.
“A U.S. official explained yesterday that guarantee contratcs had been written for amounts as low as 10,000 dollars. The largest guarantee dollars held by an American oil company on an oil refinery in Italy.
“The official said that since the purpose of the programme was to encourage additional American investment in Ghana, it was not applicable to existing investments,” it added.
The Interbank forex rates from the Bank of Ghana today, November 21, 2022, have shown that the Ghana Cedi is trading against the dollar at a buying price of 13.0990 and a selling price of 13.1122.
As compared to Friday’s trading of a buying price of 13.0991 and a selling price of 13.1123. At a forex bureau in Accra, the dollar is being bought at a rate of 14.50 and sold at a rate of 14.90.
See the full newspaper clipping below for the full story:
