20100808
reuters

ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's main opposition party named veteran leader Nana Akufo-Addo as its candidate for the 2012 presidential election, set to be the first such poll in the West African state after the start of oil production later this ye

Akufo-Addo, a 66-year-old former lawyer, narrowly lost the most recent election in a run off with rival John Atta Mills, who was sworn in as president in January 2009.

"I promise I will not let you down this time - we are coming back in 2012 to redeem Ghana," he said in his victory speech late on Saturday after the New Patriotic Party declared he had won its nomination.

Ghana, one of just a few sub-Saharan countries with a Euro bond, is on track to become an oil producer at the end of this year with the start up of its offshore Jubilee field.

The country is already the world's second largest producer of cocoa and Africa's second biggest gold miner, and has projected economic growth over 20 percent next year.

Mills' government has overseen a steep drop in the pace of inflation since last year that has paved the way for a series of interest rate cuts.

U.S. President Barack Obama chose Ghana for his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa last year, citing the country's strong democratic credentials.