(Bloomberg) -- Ghana’s opposition leader, John Mahama has taken an early lead in the presidential race as counting slowly gathered pace in the nation wracked by inflation and a debt crisis.
National Democratic Congress’ Mahama won 50.3% of the votes counted from 9% of the nation’s 276 constituencies, Joy TV reported. The ruling New Patriotic Party’s Mahamudu Bawumia won 48% of the votes, according to the Accra-based broadcaster. The early results aren’t necessarily indicative of the final outcome.
Surging prices of food, housing and clothing were in focus for residents of Africa’s biggest gold producer as they voted on Saturday. Illegal mining of the yellow metal also became an issue in the lead-up to the vote because of the environmental damage it’s caused. Its illicit trade has robbed the cash-strapped nation of revenue. The government defaulted on its debt in late 2022 and secured a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
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A former public relations professional, Mahama, 66, served as president from July 2012 to January 2017 — a tenure that was marred by an economic downturn and widespread electricity shortages.
He’s pledged to renegotiate the IMF program to smooth out debt payments and reduce the tax burden on companies so they can create more jobs, spearhead a private sector-led $10 billion infrastructure investment program and support some businesses to operate around the clock.
Bawumia, 61, a former deputy central bank governor who has served as vice president since 2017, has undertaken to improve the delivery of government services by further digitizing them and boost agriculture and mining.
--With assistance from Moses Mozart Dzawu and Ekow Dontoh.
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