The interview was conducted in French and can be found by clicking here.

On August 6, 2018, Professor Gilles Carbonnier, the main applicant for this r4d research project, was interviewed by Anouk Henry from RTS, a Swiss public broadcasting organization.

The interview took place in the wake of the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ campaign launched by President Nana Akufo-Addo. The President and his government have expressed a strong desire against reliance on foreign aid or loans to finance Ghana’s development. The campaign aims to instead utilize and manage the country’s natural resource wealth. The policies driving this campaign emphasize fiscal discipline, infrastructure development, education, and job creation. The President outlined specific initiatives, such as an integrated bauxite and aluminum authority and a free high school enrolment programme, for operationalizing these policies.

Prof. Carbonnier spoke about how the President’s campaign has captured the public’s attention and restored their economic aspirations. He noted that the country’s strengths lay in its political and macroeconomic stability, in addition to strong relations with other emerging economies. In terms of challenges, the government’s high public debt and low tax revenue collection prevent the investments necessary for growth. In his explanation, he highlighted Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) as a key factor in depleting the country’s tax base and stressed on the importance of the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) as a step towards the reduction of IFFs. Ghana has recently committed to implementing the AEOI by September 2019.

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