Franklin Cudjoe, the Founder and President of IMANI Africa, has described Dr Cassiel Ato Forson’s appointment as Finance Minister-designate as a “sensible” decision. 

The commendation came in a Facebook post on Friday, January 10, following President John Dramani Mahama’s announcement of his first ministerial list.  

In his post, Mr Cudjoe contrasted Dr Forson’s nomination with what he considered the failings of the outgoing administration’s finance leadership. 

He criticised the previous Finance Minister for pursuing overly ambitious financial projects, such as a proposed $50 billion century bond, which he described as “delusional,” and highlighted controversial policies like the Agyapa royalties deal.  

“Ato Forson for Finance Minister. Sensible appointment,” he wrote.

“Thankfully, he is not an overhyped investment banker who would have wet dreams of some delusional $50bn century bond his predecessor entertained in spite of the odious debts he had accumulated.

Worse, he was planning to mortgage our gold resources through very bad deals like Agyapa.”  

Mr Cudjoe praised advocacy groups like IMANI and the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) for successfully opposing the Agyapa deal. 

He added, “Agyapa was horrible, and kudos to IMANI and our cousins at ACEP for leading the charge to kill it.

Whoever advised Agyapa must be lashed 38 times.” 

His remarks underscore the weight of expectations for Dr Forson to steer Ghana’s economy responsibly and avoid the pitfalls of past financial management.