President Nana Akufo-Addo has said there is no contradiction between Ghana Beyond Aid and his government’s dallying with China over borrowing, emphasizing that there is nothing wrong with borrowing.

According to the president,borrowing is not he same as aid, adding that “Borrowing money is not aid, what President Xi Jinping offered is a $60 billion fund which Africa countries can assess, not as aid but loans. If you can produce a project which the Chinese think it is worth supporting you can have access to such money and you have to pay it back. We’ll borrow money, everybody borrows money” he said.

Speaking at the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum, in Lagos, Nigeria on Thursday, 25th October, 2018, President Nana Afuko-Addo responded to criticism that he has betrayed Africa by accepting part of the facility at the recently held China Africa Forum despite his quest to develop Ghana and Africa beyond aid.

“The facility from the President of China is a fund that African countries can access and use to support their infrastructure development, that cannot be aid because it’s for a purpose and we have accepted it because of the business potential of our nations,” he said.

The event brought together some 5,000 young African entrepreneurs who are being funded, trained and mentored by the Tony Elumelu Foundation.