The Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, has indiacted that Ghana is making some progress on debt restructuring concerns raised by the African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank).

“We are talking and that’s the assurance that I can give when it comes to an update on the issue, “ he mentioned.

The Deputy Minister of Finance disclosed this in an exclusive interview with  Joy Business immediately after the Afreximbank shareholders meeting  in Abuja Nigeria, which ended with the election of a new President and Chairman of the institution, George Elombi

He added that “I also don’t think that media exchanges will help us for now, when it comes to all the issues raised.”

The Deputy Minister revealed that the government is talking with the stakeholders and is committed to resolving the issues, adding that “very soon we will leave you know what is happening”.

Background

Afreximbank in July 2022 extended some US$750 million to Ghana to support capital growth-related expenditure in the 2022 Budget as well as the local currency and other related infrastructure projects in the country, including the Ofankor-Nsawam Road Project.

It was basically part of a larger effort by the government to secure US$1.0 billion funding for the budget. 

The government’s decision to turn to the Afreximbank was influenced by challenges in securing funding from the capital market due to downgrades by all the major ratings agencies and COVID-19.  

Standoff with Afreximbank

Ghana is currently locked in a standoff with Afreximbank over the decision of the government to add debts owed the financial institution to other commercial debts that it plans to restructure.

Ghana has argued that Afreximbank,  based on the agreement reached with the official creditor committee put together by the Iinternational Monetray Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, it does not recognise Afreximbank as a multilateral institution for it to be exempted from the Commercial  Debt Restructuring.

But Afreximbank on its part, argued that it is a multilateral lender, and therefore the debts that Ghana owes should not be restructured.

The development has contributed to rating agency, Fitch downgrading Afreximbank’s credit rating to one notch above junk on June 4, 2025, with a negative outlook.

US Bank JP Morgan in their analysis noted that recent comments from the Ghana Government and Zambia, which revealed that they intend to restructure Afreximbank debt, were a major factor in the downgrade 

However, Government officials at the Annual Meetings of  Afreximbank told Joy Business that the government has made some significant progress on these discussions.

Developments at Annual Meetings in Abuja

Joy Business understands that there was a crunch meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, to try and make some progress on the issue.

What we do understand is that there has been some significant progress on the issue to the current standoff with Afreximbank.

However, some are worried about the impact on Ghana’s debt restructuring programme , if the Ministry of finance goes ahead to grant the request of Afreximbank.

 Afreximbank and Ghana

The African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) has supported several projects in Ghana over the years, with a portfolio running into more than US$2.0 billion dollars.