The management of Ghana Export-Import Bank has denied paying dancehall artiste Shatta Wale GH¢2 million as a made-in-Ghana brand ambassador for the bank.

“We wish to state categorically that no amounts of such magnitude has been paid to any ambassador or influencer”, a statement from the bank said on Thursday, 10 September 2020.

The allegation of the payment was first made by Kumbumgu MP Ras Mubarak at Wednesday’s hearing of the Public Accounts Committee concerning the bank’s operations between 2015 and 2017.

The bank, however, said: “The issues raised by the Auditor-General’s report within the stated period did not feature any item on the bank’s intended campaign to promote Made-in-Ghana products”.

“However, as a forward-looking development and policy bank, we seek to invest in our people and businesses while projecting our very essence as a brand that facilitates international trade for and on behalf of Ghana.

“Our strategic interventions in Ghana’s economy can be ascertained in the number of projects and initiatives that have been funded since 2017”, the bank said.

It added: “We would like to state that, part of GEXIM’s mandate is to assist in the promotion of locally-produced goods and services to enhance export revenue generation, help reduce import, add value to raw materials for export, and create employment in the country.

“In view of this national call, the bank, on Sunday, August 30, 2020, launched a campaign dubbed: Made-in-Ghana 4P.

“The 4P stands for encouraging Ghanaians to produce, promote and purchase Made-in-Ghana products and services so we can prosper as a people and nation”.

The bank noted that “to give this campaign a higher scale and in consonance with promoting Made-in-Ghana products and services”, it followed “the requisite laid-down procurement procedures” and “contracted renowned Ghanaian artistes as brand ambassadors and influencers”.

These artistes are Mr. Kofi Adu (Agya Koo) and Nii Armah Mensah (Shatta Wale).

“They are known for their exemplary award-winning exploits within our local creative arts industry and have earned international acclaim for their craft.

“Their role, simply put, is to give support, credibility and belief in the Made-in-Ghana agenda which is a personal passion point for them individually as well”.

“These renowned brand ambassadors will be using their scale, brand equity, leverages and the pool of their fan bases to garner the needed acceptance, adoption and participation by Ghanaians in the Made-in-Ghana 4P campaign so that the products of the entities that we are lending money can be patronised for them to pay back and also energise the whole culture of buying and using Made-in-Ghana products in the country”.

“The bank has not doled out GH¢2 million to Shatta Wale”.

“This allegation is factually incorrect and misleading”.