A former Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay says Ghana must take seriously its industrialisation drive to ensure that its economy is able to withstand volatilities on the international market.
According to him, the current structure of the country’s economy overly exposes it to changes in western markets and makes it vulnerable.
Speaking on a forum on Citi TV as part of the Citi Business Festival, Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay said by virtue of Ghana’s overdependence on foreign imports, it has very little control over its economy, even with the best policies.
“The challenge is that the prices of things we are importing are not controlled and cannot be controlled by us. We are not in the position to control the price of rice or mobile phones, so it means that what we have been doing is attacking the problem and not solving it. So every time there is a bump in the world, we suffer.”
“We have to manufacture more and source more of our raw materials in Ghana. It is that simple. If you are importing more of what you consume then you are in trouble, so a simple policy intervention is industrialisation,” he added.
He further suggested that the government could encourage major manufacturing companies to source their raw materials locally to make the economy more resilient and increase the country’s trade competitiveness.
The forum had the CEO of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Afua Asabea Asare, Managing Director of Konfidants, Michael Kottoh, and the Retail Banking Director of Absa Bank, Charles Addo as panelists.
The Citi Business Festival is an extensive program of business events and on-air activities providing inspiration, business ideas, and information to persons who are starting, building, or growing their businesses.
It is mainly sponsored by ABSA Bank, with support from MTN Momo and MTN Business, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, IT Consortium and GIRSAL.
The on-air series have been airing on the Citi Breakfast Show on 97.3 Citi FM every weekday.
Live fora are also scheduled on Citi TV every Tuesday from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.
