In 2010, I was in Beijing when the late President John Evans Atta Mills led a government delegation to seek funding for Ghana’s development projects. The original plan was to request $3 billion, but a prominent chief advised the team to go for $10 billion. To our surprise, China Development Bank (CDB) went further and offered $13 billion on one condition: the money would only be released for bankable projects.
Only $3 billion was to be disbursed upfront. The rest depended on the quality of projects we could present.
At sectoral meetings in Beijing, it became painfully clear that Ghana’s ministers did not have credible project briefs in hand. Instead of serious business cases, most presentations were vague, ordinary, and laced with political undertones. The Chinese listened politely but were not convinced.
We promised to send stronger proposals later. But Ghana delayed. Eventually, CDB dispatched a team of 30 experts to Accra to help us shape bankable projects. Even then, we could not meet the mark. In the end, Ghana absorbed only part of the $3 billion and the remaining $10 billion was lost.
This failure meant we missed a golden chance to industrialise our bauxite, transform the Accra Plains into a modern agricultural hub, create jobs, and grow our economy. We had the capital on the table but lacked the preparation to use it.
The lesson is simple: even the best finance minister cannot save an economy if colleagues in charge of agriculture, trade, industry, health, and education are mediocre. When the real economy underperforms, the finance minister is left with only four tools: taxation, borrowing, spending cuts, or debt restructuring. None of these creates prosperity.
Think of Ghana like a company. If the production and sales teams fail, the finance manager will struggle no matter how skilled. The same applies to our economy. If agriculture still depends on a few crops cultivated with outdated methods on just 30 percent of arable land, we will always import food and drain our foreign exchange. That is not the finance minister’s fault, it is the failure of the agriculture sector.
This challenge cuts across ministries. If the Minister of Chieftaincy cannot mobilize traditional leaders for development, the role becomes ceremonial. If the Interior Minister cannot turn thousands of prisoners and acres of prison land into productive assets, then the ministry adds little value. And let’s be clear, it was not a finance minister who chose astro turfs for all 275 constituencies instead of irrigation for food security.
The truth is there are billions of dollars in idle capital worldwide looking for credible projects in emerging markets. Ghana can attract this money but only if we present serious, bankable programmes. Investors do not reward political speeches; they respond to competence, preparation, and vision.
If New Zealand, with fewer than eight million people, can generate billions annually from eggs and dairy, Ghana with over 30 million people and vast resources can do much more. But only if our public officials understand that every sector must be investment-ready, not just the Ministry of Finance.
The Beijing trip should be a permanent reminder: opportunities slip away when politics replaces business. Global capital is still available. The question is, will we be ready next time or will we miss the billions again?
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