The Government of Ghana has begun taking steps to address a staggering GH¢700 million debt owed to institutions around the world under the country’s foreign scholarship programme.
The Minister for Youth Development, Hon. George Opare Addo, has disclosed that the government is actively working with educational institutions abroad to negotiate payment terms and prevent hundreds of Ghanaian students from being sacked or rusticated due to unpaid tuition and stipends.
Speaking candidly about the situation, Hon. George Opare Addo acknowledged the gravity of the crisis, describing it as a human and national development issue.
“The current bill that I have is over ¢700 million in debt that we have to find money to pay. There is a debt of fees that we have across the world. And so my registrar now has to go around the world and negotiate with schools, and that is what we’ve been undertaking in the last four, five months.
“I keep sending him—go here, go there—because you keep getting threats all over the world, ‘We are going to sack your students.’”
Minister for Youth Development, Hon. George Opare Addo
The Minister emphasised that these challenges are not just numbers on a ledger, but involve real lives—Ghanaian citizens whose academic futures are at stake.
Worrying Reports
Reports indicate that about 200 Ghanaian students currently risk losing their studentship in the University of Memphis due to the prolonged non-payment of fees.
Many have voiced frustration over months, and in some cases years, of unpaid stipends and tuition, plunging them into financial uncertainty and threatening to derail their academic and professional trajectories.
Hon. George Opare Addo was clear that this crisis is a legacy problem, inherited from the previous administration.
“Some have been very understanding, and they know that we are a new government that has come in. We inherited these problems, and so we are aligning and fixing them gradually. You can’t blame this government for the mess we inherited. And most of these things have been outstanding for a year or two.”
Minister for Youth Development, Hon. George Opare Addo
Comprehensive Audit
He revealed that the Ministry is currently undertaking a comprehensive audit of all scholarship beneficiaries to determine the true state of obligations. The process, he said, has already uncovered major discrepancies.
“A lot of the students have opted out. We held a meeting with some of them in London and gave them some options. Somebody might have finished school for two years, and government still owes him or her stipends, but per the law, once you finish, you must come back home.”
Minister for Youth Development, Hon. George Opare Addo
The Minister was firm about enforcing the principles that underpin the scholarship programme. “If I pay your fees, you must come back and help,” he stressed. “So, do you want to stay? If you are going to stay there, I’m not going to pay your stipends, because you have already finished school,” he added.
According to him, many students have voluntarily agreed to forgo their stipends under such circumstances.
Systemic Abuse
Beyond the immediate crisis, the Youth Development Minister highlighted a deeper structural issue—what he described as a complete abuse of the scholarship regime over the years.
He pointed to past investigative reporting by The Fourth Estate that exposed how scholarships were allegedly sold or distributed without merit, a trend he said the current government is determined to stop.
“The scholarship scheme was set up to serve needy students, people who could not afford it, or if the state had the need to address a certain challenge. For instance, when we discovered oil and we didn’t have a lot of expertise in that field, the state would need to intervene… sponsor very smart, young, dedicated students so they can get training and come back to help.”
Minister for Youth Development, Hon. George Opare Addo
He lamented that this original purpose has been distorted, stating that over the years, that has been abused, and the manner in which scholarship has been administered was like “selling tomatoes in the market“.
To restore order and integrity to the system, the Minister outlined steps being taken to establish a unified and centralised scholarship administration regime.
“We wanted to be able to have a standard because you realise that GNPC is giving scholarships, GetFund is giving scholarships, and then the scholarship secretariat itself is also giving scholarships.
“We needed a scholarship regime where, if GNPC puts funds into a scholarship fund and GetFund does the same, there would be one authority to regulate those funds.”
Minister for Youth Development, Hon. George Opare Addo
Hon. George Opare Addo also questioned the propriety of other government agencies administering scholarships independently when there is a Scholarship Secretariat mandated by law to perform that role.
“I don’t think it is even proper for a government agency like GNPC to be administering scholarships, when there is a scholarship agency or an authority or a secretariat that is mandated by law to run it”.
Minister for Youth Development, Hon. George Opare Addo
In the meantime, the government is negotiating with various institutions abroad, with the Chief of Staff and the Finance Minister working closely with the Ministry of Youth Development to find workable payment plans.
Hon. George Opare Addo expressed optimism that with the collaborative efforts underway, the crisis would be mitigated soon.
However, the road ahead remains steep. “We don’t have ¢700 million in cash,” the Minister admitted, but assured the public that the government is committed to fulfilling its obligations to students and restoring sanity to the foreign scholarship programme.
As the audit progresses and negotiations continue, it is the expectation that the pledges made will translate into payments that secure the futures of thousands of Ghanaian students abroad.
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