George Kyei Frimpong
5 August 2008
An Economist in (ISSER), Dr. Charles Ackah, has advised the country to emulate the Asians and African countries, including Mauritius and Botswana, by moving to the area of manufacturing and services
"If you look at the structure of the Ghanaian economy, and the sector contribution to the GDP, you can go back to 1960, and you can see that things have not changed much. The contribution of agriculture to the economy of Europe is minimal, in Ghana we have 16% of employment and labour forces in agriculture, producing to feed Ghanaians, but there is still a food crisis. In Europe there is 3% of the population feeding the economy, but there is no food crisis," he cited.
Speaking at an interaction programme, held by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD) on Tuesday, he indicated that most of the problem was due to lack of savings and investment, and that the country was not exporting much.
Tabling the key issues in Ghana, he identified them as low cost productivity, high cost and difficulties in accessing finance, under-developed structures, land tenure problems, energy and water supply.
He observed that although the government had tried to reduce poverty, there was still the problem of inequalities, since development in the north and south, rural and urban, women and men differ.
Dr. Ackah said there were strong indications that the country could achieve the targeted Millennium Development Goal (MDG) by 2015, which aims to reduce extreme poverty, however the problem was on inequalities.
"Since 1984 the country is doing well in economic growth," he remarked.
He said the country had performed well, but the problem was how to move from agriculture-based to manufacturing and services, which is very key to structural transformation.
"All the leaders need to tell us how they are going to take advantage of our competitive advantage. Agriculture, to me, still remains our competitive advantage, so you cannot lose sight of that. What should have happened, since Nkrumah's time, and when Acheampong was overthrown, has not happened," he observed.
He noted that the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have compelled the government to move away from funding agriculture, hence the food crisis.
The inference is that the country is still in the position that, although the government wants to emphasize manufacturing and service, the country cannot lose sight of agriculture.
He recommended that the state should manage lands and transportation systems, and increase the tax base.
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