President John Dramani Mahama has raised concerns about how Ghanaians continue to struggle with fully adapting to the 2007 redenomination of the cedi, noting that old habits of calculating money in “billions” remain widespread even after nearly two decades.
Speaking at the Cedi at 60 conference sighted by MyNewGh, President Mahama opened his remarks by indicating that he would combine a prepared speech with personal reflections.
“As I normally do, my presentation will be in two parts. My prepared speech and then I normally have a few reflections before I inflict my speech on you,” he said.
He recalled an anecdote about his late mother, who passed away in June 2016, explaining her unique way of interpreting currency notes.
“She had a very interesting way of counting her money. For her, the 20 cedi note was £1. So if I gave her 100 cedi, for her it was £5. And so 1,000 cedis was £50, and until she died, that was the way she would count her money.”
Mahama used the story to illustrate how individuals form personal systems for understanding value. He said it remains surprising that many Ghanaians still convert the redenominated cedi into the old currency.
“I find it strange that even today… the current phase of the cedi was introduced in President Kufuor’s time in 2007. And so 2027 will be 20 years of the current redenomination of the cedi. And yet it’s very interesting.”
He referenced a recent funeral he attended to underline the point. According to him, a donation of GH¢100,000 did not receive the reaction one might expect.
“When it was announced, the whole place was quiet because I thought the guy deserved a very big round of applause. Apparently, they didn’t understand what 100,000 cedis was. So when the MC said ‘1 billion cedis,’ then everybody understood.”
Mahama added, “Twenty years on, we still are calculating in 1 billion cedis instead of 100,000 cedis.”
He further observed that the depreciation of the currency has affected how people value their earnings and allowances.
Referring to security officials and drivers who received per diem during foreign trips, he noted, “Anytime they went to the shop to buy a few things, they always used their calculator on their phone. If they saw a shoe and it was £120, they would calculate £120 into cedis and say,
‘What?’ when they saw how many cedis they would get for this shoe.”
