Features
Industrialisation and AfCFTA; panacea to Ghana’s economic woes
I have been following expositions by Ghana’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen about his vision to industrialise Ghana through the NPP’s One District One Factory (1D1F) policy as well as his role in drawing up and seeing to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) project.
I always tell myself that if this was back in 2008/09 when I was doing my Masters in International Affairs, the knowledge I have learnt from Mr Alan Kyerematen would have given me an ‘A’ without learning many theories in International Trade & Development as well as International Economics. I could have passed the two courses without hustle.
The AfCFTA is the largest trading block since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was formed. By World Bank estimates, the AfCFTA is expected to increase intra-African trade from its current 13 per cent about 51 per cent in the next 10 years, serving about 1.2 billion Africans, and injecting billions of dollars annually into Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Currently, China remains Africa’s biggest trading partner. In 2019, trade between Africa and China amounted to US$192 billion whilst China’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Africa was US$2.7 billion. The disparity in trade volumes between Africa and China is heavily tilted in favour of China.
Whilst China imports raw materials from Africa, it exports finished goods to the continent resulting in a huge trade deficit in favour of China. China is only one of Africa’s trading partners. The US, Europe, and India are among others.
The only solution to the problem of Africa taking raw materials outside and importing finished products is for it to industrialise.
There is no single economic powerhouse in the world which does not use exports of finished goods as the bedrock of its economy. US, Japan, Germany as well as the Asian Tigers; Taiwan, Korea and others are all export-led economies and none of them export raw materials.
There is certainty that Africa is the continent of the future. Investors in the wide world are looking for the next destination for their investments and Africa offers them a huge opportunity for untapped human and material resources.
Luckily for Ghana, the AfCFTA Secretariat through the ingenuity of Mr Kyerematen is in Accra. With its democratic values and peaceful nature, Ghana could attract investors.
What is needed is the leadership which can assure the investor communities both local and foreign of value for their money. This is because direct investment is not a charity job that we must beg for. It is an assurance given to those with the wherewithal to invest that their investments will not go down the drain.
The World Bank has reported that Ghana’s economy can expand by 0.5 per cent for the next 10 years through the AfCFTA, hence, Ghana needs to implement the rest of the AfCFTA protocols.
As eyes are fixed on Ghana as host country of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Investors are highly interested in how Ghana conducts its economic drive as the gateway to Africa. This calls for an astute leadership in economic management.
With the Minister of Trade and Industry implementing the 1D1F and being the architect of the AfCFTA, investors see the opportunity to invest in Ghana to be able to export to all the African states.
The surest bet to Ghana’s industrialisation, the panacea to Ghana’s economic upturn is to make Alan Kyeremateng lead Ghana NOW.
The writer is at Legon Centre for International
Affairs & Diplomacy (LECIAD),
University of Ghana, Legon.
By Nana Kwame Nkrumah (PhD Candidate)
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
SKIP THE QUEUE, TAP THE NEWS
You can now read the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers from the comfort of your device via TimesNewsPlus.
Join our WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
