China not ‘taking over’ Ghana – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Akufo-Addo has stated categorically that the engagement between Ghana and China will never lead to a situation where the Asian giants will take control of critical sectors of the nation.

According to him, even though Ghana has some business transactions with China, there is no way the Asian giant will take over various sectors of the economy.

Parliament has already approved a $2 billion bauxite-for-infrastructure barter arrangement between the government of Ghana and China’s Sinohydro Corporation.

This arrangement seeks to leverage a fraction of Ghana’s bauxite resources to address the country’s infrastructural challenges and will provide a wide variety of projects including hospitals, bridges, interchanges, roads, affordable housing, rural electrification, and many other projects in line with government’s development agenda.

Following the visit of Mr Akufo-Addo to the Asian country, Sinotruk International, China’s first heavy-duty truck manufacturer, has signed an agreement with the government to establish an assembly plant in Ghana.

These and other deals with China have raised concerns about overdependence and the possibility of Ghana being shortchanged in the long term.

In an encounter with the media on Wednesday, 19 December 2018, Mr Akufo-Addo said: “I’m aware about some anxiety among some people that we might be putting ourselves in a position of too much dependency on China.

“I am determined that we should use what opportunities that there are to raise ourselves out of poverty but there is no chance that I will ever preside over the loss of Ghana’s sovereignty to any foreign country”

He therefore allayed the fears of people who are skeptical about the engagements of Ghana with China.

Source: classfmonline