The President of the Affiliation of Ghana Industries (AGI) has described the Covid-19 pandemic as a missed golden alternative for the nation to rework its financial construction and industrialise.
Dr. Humphrey Ayim-Darke, talking on Pleasure Information’ PM Specific Enterprise Version on Thursday, April 11, lamented the nation’s failure to pivot meaningfully in direction of self-reliance and manufacturing within the aftermath of the pandemic.
The failure he believes is now being uncovered by latest world shocks, together with the ten% tariff slapped on Ghanaian exports comparable to cocoa by the US.
“The overall, broad assurance is there,” Dr. Ayim-Darke famous, referencing statements from authorities officers about Ghana’s readiness to recalibrate its financial system.
“However you realize, there are some externalities, or exterior components. After they befall a nation, irrespective of the peace of mind from the President… they’re past your management.”
He recognized the U.S. tariffs as a textbook case of such exterior shocks and warned that the nation should study to internalise these dangers and put together accordingly.
“That is one clear case of an exterior issue. How do you handle it? How do you mitigate it?”
Dr. Ayim-Darke believes Ghana ought to have used Covid-19 as a springboard to cut back dependency on imports and construct inside capability.
“The case of Covid-19 confirmed us one clear instance,” he mentioned.
“Nonetheless, how did we execute the fallout of Covid-19? How did we intentionally promote native manufacturing corporations as a fallout of COVID? That instance is there, however what number of corporations can we rely out past that?”
To him, the federal government’s exit plan and financial restructuring narrative, whereas optimistic, lack sensible substance.
“That mentioned, assurance just isn’t enough as a result of there are different obstacles,” he pressured.
“Restoration couldn’t reap the benefits of the state of affairs to industrialise.”
He cited the power sector as one such space the place Ghana has tried to implement native content material insurance policies, encouraging corporations to provide cables, conductors, and even arrange meter meeting vegetation in collaboration with ECG.
“However past that,” he requested pointedly, “it is advisable go interrogate, how far have they been profitable through the years?”
Dr. Ayim-Darke warned that the nation continues to undergo from a structural financial imbalance dominated by imports.
“The construction of the financial system remains to be extremely dominant with imports,” he mentioned.
“So if Covid couldn’t give us that reawakening to appropriate points, and we may see such errors nonetheless are reoccurring, what’s the likelihood that we may take our future into our personal arms, even with this Liberation Day declaration?”
He ended on a sobering word: “It’s stuffed with discuss that we want,” implying that rhetoric with out execution has grow to be the norm, and Ghana dangers repeating the identical cycles of financial vulnerability except it takes daring steps to industrialise in response to shocks just like the latest U.S. tariffs.
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