Ghana may well be briefly tied to HIPC conditions, but surely in a few years they will benefit?
If only! Although the debt stock cancellation is irrevocable, countries with HIPC status will be tied to conditions for the next forty years. Poor countries ineligible for debt cancellation will be on the leash for only twenty years. Performance-Based Assessment (PBA) systems and civil society monitoring will weaken the authority of elected governments and institutions of the state for the next forty years. Furthermore, Poverty Reduction Strategies that focus merely on survival-level projects will ensure that genuine development and the eradication of poverty never take place.
