The Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Dr. Stephen Amoah, says the Komenda Sugar Factory suffered a major setback, due to lack of proper planning and supporting data for its establishment.
Dr. Amoah noted that lack of scientific data backing the establishment of the factory, as well as its location, were some of the contributing factors affecting its ability to operate at full capacity.
According to him, the problem was limited not only to the sugar facture, but nationwide, asking whether if “we really, really know the size of land we can grow onion, ginger, pineapples, maize, [and] apple on, do we know? Have we done all the soil tests? Do we have the data against what we demand? Do we understand the value-chain?
“No wonder we have the Komenda Sugar Factory for two different regimes for so many years, and the problem is sugarcane. Have you heard this thing before? How could we set [up] a factory and the problem is the raw material that we need. So without the availability of land and knowing where you will get it to feed the factory to full capacity, why do you think of setting it up?
“These are serious issues; sometimes it is difficult to talk about, but I think we can no longer sit aloof; we should be ready to face the criticisms and speak the truth…”
The Deputy Minister was speaking at the 2nd Edition of the Financial Economic Seminar-Ghana 2023, dubbed: “Impact of Socio-Economic policies on Trade and Industries in Developing Countries,” yesterday.
He diagnosed that the problem partly stemmed from Africa, and the choices of leaders elected as people, would do everything on earth to become leaders, but wouldn’t do everything on earth to know how to lead.
Dr. Amoah also blamed the government for the stunt growth of industries, explaining that the government was in constant competition with businesses at the capital market, which the latter was always at the losing side.
He added that since the government goes to the same capital market as the private sector to borrow, a lot of the companies could not grow organically, because of inadequate funds.
Additionally, the ration fund given to the private sector by the bank will always have double digit interest rate.
Consequences, he said, are felt in high interest rates, which affect the companies’ ability to expand to employ more, and produce enough to meet demand.
The trickledown effect is also seen in high import rates and the weakening of the cedi against other major trading currencies.
Deputy Minister Amoah stated that although the central bank increased the policy rate with the aim of reducing inflation, the act must be reconsidered, as it unduly affects trade and industry efficiency.
The Guest Speaker for the event, Professor Antinuke Olusla Adebanji, on her part, emphasised the need for a coordinated and accurate data collection, and used for accelerated growth.
She told the gathering that data collection, publication, uptake and impact were relevant in socio-economic policy development.
Prof Adebanji said governments and international bodies are like rely on data to assess the impact of trade policies, measure trade flows, and identify potential trade barriers.
However, she warned against lack of data, poor quality data, infrastructure, policies and resource utilisation, as well as lack of a unified data structure as major challenges to social economic policy development.
There were other speaker such as Maame Awinador-Kanyirige, a policy officer for Trade and Economic Affairs, The Netherlands Embassy in Ghana, and Yaw Amoateng, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.
The discussants of the theme were Clement Osei-Amoaka, President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, Sheela Sakyi Oppong, private legal practitioner, and Dr. Joseph Obeng, President of Ghana Union Traders’ Association (GUTA).
