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Claim: An X user, @SamuelAyeh13, claims ex-President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government did not pay interest due to local creditors under the country’s domestic debt exchange programme (DDEP).
Verdict: False! DUBAWA’s investigations showed that contrary to the allegation, Ex-President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government paid the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd coupons to the domestic creditors under DDEP. The first coupon of over GH¢2.3 billion was paid on Aug. 22, 2023; the second coupon of over GH¢5.9 billion was paid on Feb. 20, 2024; and the third coupon of GH¢6.1 billion was paid on Aug. 2024.
Full Text
An X user, @SamuelAyeh13, has alleged that ex-President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government did not pay interest due to local creditors under the country’s domestic debt exchange programme (DDEP).
The Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) was a public offer to Ghanaian bondholders to trade their high-yielding bonds for lower-yielding versions of much longer maturity periods.
President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government rolled out the initiative on Dec. 5, 2022, to prevent the country’s economy from collapsing under its total public debt weight. The government honoured the first coupon on Aug. 22, 2023.
Click here to learn more about the DDEP.
However, nearly two years into the programme, an X user (formerly Twitter) has alleged that the Akufo-Addo did not honour the coupon to domestic creditors.
“To all young people who do not understand this in simple terms – President Mahama has directed the payment of interests due people who [lent] their money (principal) to gov’t. The previous government failed to pay and decided to pay after 20 years. President Mahama has done it,” he wrote on Feb. 17, 2025.
Social media data shows that as of Feb. 28, 2025, the post had received over 200,234 views, 99 replies, 486 reposts, 1,845 likes, and 66 bookmarks.
Reacting to the post, an X user, @Adarkwah_k, wrote:
“Chale, we are the government; leave the propaganda to the NPP. We all know the NPP government honoured all their coupon payments before they left office. This statement you give dier check like we dey opposition lol.”
Another X user, @Ay3_Halfcast, challenged the claimant:
“Previous govt stayed on track with all coupon payments post-DDEP and Eurobond restructuring. Built-up buffers in the Sinking Fund helped cover the $346M Eurobond payment in January 2025 and the current DDEP coupons of GHS 6 billion. Stop the lies.”
DUBAWA decided to investigate the claim due to the interest it has generated on Ghana’s social media platform.
Verification
DUBAWA’s probe showed that Ex-President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government paid the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd coupons to the local creditors under the domestic debt exchange programme (DDEP), contrary to the X user’s allegation.
The first coupon of over GH¢2.3 billion was paid on Aug. 22, 2023; the second coupon of over GH¢5.9 billion was paid on Feb. 20, 2024; and the third coupon of GH¢6.1 billion was paid in Aug. 2024.
President Nana Akufo-Addo disclosed this during his State of the Nation Address to the country’s Parliament on Feb. 27, 2024.
“Mr Speaker, as you may recall, [the] Government successfully paid the first coupon of two-point-three billion cedis (GH¢2,369.67 million) on the new bonds on 22nd August 2023. At the time, that was the single biggest payout of domestic payments in a single day for Ghana. We then paid two billion and sixty million cedis (GH¢2,060.72 million) for the last leg of the domestic debt exchange on 5th September 2023. A week ago, last Tuesday, 20th February 2024, the second coupon of five-point-eight billion cedis (GH¢5,847.72 million) was paid to domestic bondholders. This is the largest coupon paid in a day in Ghana’s history,” the Nana Akufo-Addo said.
See paragraph 3 of page 12 of Mr Akufo-Addo’s address here.
Ghana’s finance minister, Dr Amin Adam, confirmed Mr Akufo-Addo’s statement when he presented the 2024 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review to Parliament on July 23, 2024.
“Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report that the Government has made substantial progress since the completion of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) in September 2023. We have successfully honoured two coupon payments, with the second payment of about GH¢5.9 billion in February 2024. Furthermore, we will make the third coupon payment of GH¢6.1 billion in August 2024. The timely payments of these coupons will undoubtedly improve investor confidence in the domestic market and bolster the overall economy,” he told the legislators.
See paragraph 62 of page 13 of the 2024 Mid-Year budget review here.
Also, President John Mahama’s directive to the finance minister to honour the fourth coupon under the DDEP, which was barely two months into office, proves that his predecessor had made previous payments.
“Additionally, [the] Government has also paid into the Debt Service Recovery Cedi Account (Sinking Fund) an amount of GH9.7 billion as a buffer for the 5th DDEP coupon that will fall due in July and August 2025,” the Presidency’s statement read.
Conclusion
Ex-President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government paid the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd coupons to the local creditors under the domestic debt exchange programme (DDEP), contrary to the X user’s allegation.
