‘Sika mpɛ dede’ – Akufo-Addo’s cedi depreciation quote has social media buzzing

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo delivered his much awaited October 30 address on the state of the economy.

Among other things, he outlined the challenges that landed Ghana in the current economic state and followed up with some measures that his government was pursuing in order to reverse the slump and reset the economy on the path of growth.

He dedicated quite sometime to the issue of the currency depreciation and in seeking to buttress his point employed a French proverb.

He said: “Fellow Ghanaians, as the French would say, l’argent n’aime pas le bruit, to wit, money does not like noise, sika mpɛ dede.

“Where there is chaos, where there is noise, where there is unrest, you will not find money. If you talk down your money, it will go down. If you allow some unidentifiable person to talk down your money, it will go down,” he stressed.

The Twi variant of the proverb, ‘sika mpɛ dede’ has caught fire on social media with people poking fun with it, others analyzing it whiles others are giving it an interpretation of their own.

See some social media reactions below:

Other issues raised in the address:

On other issues, he updated citizens on progress made with IMF negotiations and also efforts to stabilize the economy in the midst of rapidly depreciating currency and galloping inflation.

Among the measures cabinet took after a three-day retreat aimed towards preparing for the address were as follows:

1) enhanced supervisory action by the Bank of Ghana in the forex bureau markets and the black market to flush out illegal operators, as well as ensuring that those permitted to operate legally abide by the market rules. Already some forex bureaus have had their licenses revoked, and this exercise will continue until complete order is restored in the sector;

2) Fresh inflows of dollars are providing liquidity to the foreign exchange market, and addressing the pipeline demand;

3) the Bank of Ghana has given its full commitment to the commercial banks to provide liquidity to ensure the wheels of the economy continue to run in a stabilized manner, till the IMF Programme kicks in and the financing assurances expected from other partners also come in;

4) Government is working with the Bank of Ghana and the oil producing and mining companies to introduce a new legal and regulatory framework to ensure that all foreign exchange earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana to help boost the domestic foreign exchange market; and5) the Bank of Ghana will enhance its gold purchase programme.