The former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is to be appointed as the senior presidential advisor on the economy.
He will also serve as the president’s special envoy on international investment and the capital markets, according to Asaase News sources in the Office of the President.
Also to serve as an advisor, our checks suggest, is Kwaku Afriyie, the former Eenvironment, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, who, according to Asaase’s sources, is slated to be appointed as President Akufo-Addo’s special envoy on climate.
Ofori-Atta this morning was relieved of his role as minister for finance, a position he held for seven years. He leaves the Ministry of Finance with the enviable record of being the longest-serving finance minister in Ghana’s Fourth Republic.
Mohammed Amin Adam, the current minister of state at the Ministry of Finance, took over today as the substantive Minister for Finance. Sources at both the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana are confident that there will be a smooth transition, ensuring continuity in the Ghana government’s debt restructuring negotiations with private creditors and for Ghana’s second review under its extended credit facility (ECF) arrangements with the International Monetary Fund.
First list
Asaase News sources in the Office of the President suggest there are further major changes to be made as Wednesday’s press release from Jubilee House was limited to the ministerial appointments list presented to the Speaker of Parliament and the direct consequential matters regarding appointees.
The Valentine’s Day reshuffle is the most comprehensive to date of all Akufo-Addo’s reshuffles in his two terms in office.
The expected appointment of a climate change envoy, in particular, is in line with global trends. The United States president, Joe Biden, upon assuming office, appointed the former secretary of state John Kerry as the first US special presidential envoy for climate.
Other countries such as China, the United Kingdom and France have also appointed climate envoys, and international non-governmental organisations such as the World Bank, IMF and UN have all appointed special “climate change” representatives.
Asaase News sources on the fourth floor of Jubilee House also say there is talk of a reshuffle of the Majority leadership in Parliament. This is likely to be announced on Monday, after a scheduled National Executive Committee meeting of the New Patriotic Party.