On the 5th of November 2022, Ghana’s citizens came out en masse to protest the worsening economic crisis and call for the immediate resignation of the president, Nana Akufo-Addo.

This protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations this year over the soaring cost of living that has made it even harder for people to get by in a country where about a quarter of the population lives on less than $2.15 per day, according to the World Bank.

How Bad Is Ghana’s Economic Situation?

In September, economic reports by the statistics service showed that Ghana’s consumer inflation rate climbed to an annual 37.2% from 33.9% in August, hitting a 21-year peak despite the government’s efforts to tighten policies.

Prices of essential products, like drinking water, rose to 58.9%, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose to 68.8%. Transport, which includes fuel, rose 46.8%.

Prices of imported goods also rose nearly 5% faster than domestic items, and food prices saw the largest hikes.

The West African country’s foreign receive also dwindled to around $2.7 billion in September from $6.1 billion in January, and the balance of payments deficit was just shy of $2.5 billion in the first half.

The country’s currency has also faced some downtime. According to data from the World Bank, the Cedi has been Africa’s worst-performing currency since the beginning of 2022. The Cedi had lost around 40% of its value against the dollar at that time of the World Bank report, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

The protesters are asking President Akufo Addo to resign based on the idealogy that he is incompetent to manage the nation’s economy. According to some protesters, the president’s move to borrow billions of dollars from the IMF would further indebt the country.

“Enough is enough. We have gold, we have oil, we have manganese, we have diamonds. We have everything we need in this country. The only thing that we need is leadership.”

The President has continued his negotiating conversation with the IMF for some kind of support package to help stabilize the country’s economy.