Hassan Magulumali
International investors greeted the removal of Ghana’s finance minister with caution on Wednesday, as they braced for the prospect of more delays to the restructuring of the country’s overseas debt ahead of national elections in December.
The replacement of Ken Ofori-Atta with Mohammed Amin Adam, minister of state in the finance ministry, was not expected to completely scupper negotiations over the debt restructuring.
Ghana is seeking relief on some $13 billion owed to private creditors holding eurobonds. Ofori-Atta had overseen the debt restructuring efforts.
“There could be some risk regarding a delay as the new minister of finance catches up,” said Thys Louw, portfolio manager for emerging markets hard currency debt strategy at asset manager Ninety One. “But overall, this is unlikely to derail a deal before the elections,” he said.
Prior to assuming his role as the Minister of State, Hon. Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam was the Deputy Minister for Energy responsible for the Petroleum Sector.
He was appointed as the Deputy Regional Minister for the Northern Region in 2005.
Hon. Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has worked extensively on extractive industries and Resource Management as a University lecturer, advisor on Resource Governance and as a campaigner for transparency in resource management around the globe.
Prior to his role as the Deputy Minister for Energy, he was the Founder and Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP). He also worked in other Public and Private organizations as an Energy Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Energy in Ghana, Commissioner of Ghana Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, the Africa Coordinator of extractives industries in Ibis amongst many other positions held.
Hon. Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam was educated in the Northern school Business from 1988 to 1990. He holds a PhD. in Petroleum Economics from the Centre for Energy, Petroleum & Mineral Law, and Policy (CEPMLP) of the University of Dundee in UK specializing in Petroleum fiscal policy in resource – led economies and resource governance. He also has an MPhil (Economics) and B.A (Hons) Economics from the University of Cape-Coast. He is also a fellow of the Institute of Certified Economist of Ghana (ICEG).
He has undertaken professional development training at Colombia University, University of Texas at Austin, and Harvard University in the US. He is chairman of Ghana’s National Energy Transition Committee, chairman of the Gold for Oil Initiative and Chairman of the New Producers Group (a group of new oil and gas producing countries in the World).
