Ghana’s main opposition leader and immediate past president has chosen a former minister for education, Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, to be his running mate in Dec. 7 presidential polls, the National Democratic Congress said Monday on its Twitter page.

Agyemang, who served as minister from 2013 until John Mahama left office for President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party in January 2017, will be the only woman representing a major party in a key position in this year’s election.

Akufo-Addo, who has picked Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia as his running mate, will face Mahama for a third consecutive time when he seeks to renew his mandate in the election. Their two parties have dominated Ghanaian politics since 1992, with many previous ballots that have been close.

Economic growth in the West African nation has been 6% or more per year since the NPP government took office three years ago. However, the forecast for 2020 expansion has been cut to 1.2% due to the collapse in oil prices and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said in an interview Friday. The budget deficit is expected to widen to more than 10% of GDP, he said. That would be the widest in at least six years.