Akufo-Addo: “Black Market” Domination Of Forex Space Unacceptable

According to the president, the initial stimulus for the creation of forex bureaux” in Ghana was that, “at the time when our economy was opening up and liberalising”, there was a need to “find a mechanism for putting an end to black-market operations on the country’s currency”.

“That was the initial impulse,” the president said, “‘So we will have these forex bureaux regulated by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) but which will make access to foreign exchange in a regulated and controlled manner easier.’”

President Akufo-Addo made this observation when he met with the leadership of the Forex Bureau Association of Ghana at Jubilee House in Accra on Wednesday (26 October 2022).

“Unfortunately, somehow, this initial motivation for the creation of the forex bureaus has still not materialised, he said.

“As you hear public commentators and commentators of the Bank of Ghana itself say, it is still the black market that is driving both the supply as well as the rate of our foreign exchange transactions,” President Akufo-Addo said.

“That for me, is completely unacceptable and we have to find a way to work together to drive the black market out of business,” Akufo-Addo said.
Impact of speculation

The president of the Forex Bureau Association of Ghana, K T Dadzie, welcomed the invitation of the president to meet with him on the forex exchange challenges in the country.

He noted that forex bureaus are regulated and do not have much control beyond what the regulator tells them to do. The past three months, he observed, have not been easy for bureau operators and their customers.

“We have been in this business since 1988,” Dadzie said. “We have had turbulence but this is a bit tough for all of us. We have gone through all that happened but we tried and we survived and I know this too shall pass.

“With the announcement that we were even meeting yesterday, the rate started coming down. It means it is not natural, this has all been done by people’s speculation and trying to make windfall out of the situation that we are in,” he said.

The Ghana cedi regained strength against the US dollar after weeks of consecutive free fall. The currency showed some renewed vigour on 25 October 2022, as $1 went for GHC14.50.