Director for the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Professor Peter Quartey, has said the outcome of the 2020 general election petition is unlikely to affect investors’ perception and confidence in the Ghanaian economy.
Speaking on how the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the election petition could impact foreign inflows, Professor Quartey noted that the investor community regardless of the outcome of the petition had always trusted Ghana’s economic prospects.
According to him, investors are not necessarily worried about the outcome of the petition given the country’s track record in practicing democracy, adding that investors looking to invest in the country were rather concerned about the country’s’ growth prospects, demand for goods, operations and macroeconomic stability.
“This is not the first time we’ve had an election petition, we’ve had democracy for the last 2 decades and so we have a matured democracy and therefore the investor community even before the outcome believe in Ghana’s economy and so will look at other factors like growth prospects, demand for goods, operations, macroeconomic stability etc,” he said.
“I believe the investor Community knows that we will not jump onto the street to fight as Ghanaians, it doesn’t happen because we use the legal systems to address our grievances. So this outcome will not significantly change investor perceptions because they know who we are,” he added.
Former President John Mahama’s petition against the 2020 Presidential elections was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Thursday, March 4, 2021, on the grounds of having no merits.
With the dismissal of the petition and finality brought to the matter, investment prospects for Ghana is expected increase as investors are no longer on edge.
In instances such as these, investors tend to restrict investments to the various sectors of the economy of a country to avoid losing their investments should there be a civil unrest and political instability in the country.
