The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia obeserved that, Ghana, like many African countries, is blessed with an abundance of resources, but, has, over the years, not been able to translate this into the much-needed growth and development the country and continent desire, thus leaving the economy in a fragile and unfulfilled state.
To avert this and and also to realise the full benefits of AfCFTA, Dr. Bawumia called for the transformation of the economic architecture, in order to meet the demands of the emerging global economies post covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, was speaking at the opening of the 74th edition of the annual New Year School and Conference by the University of Ghana in Accra.
“In order to maximise the benefits of the AfCFTA the structural transformation of the economy has to be accelerated,” Dr. Bawumiaurged.
“We are still overly reliant on the production and export of raw materials, and not sufficiently on the things we make and grow.”
“That is why Government is firmly committed to addressing productive capacity issues through initiatives such as the “One-District One Factory” (1D1F) policy, the development industries like the integrated bauxite and aluminum industry, the iron and steel industry and the programme for agricultural renewal and enhancement that we have dubbed “Planting for Food and Jobs”.
“It is this transformation that will give us the best opportunity to derive maximum benefit from our abundant natural resources, and from our participation in the AfCFTA, and help bring progress and prosperity to our people, fortified by the deliberate steps we are taking to educate our children to be responsive to the needs of the 21st century world of work.”
Dr. Bawumia also cited Government’s digitalisation initiative, which has catapulted Ghana to one of the leading digital economies in Africa, as an example of how the government is transforming the economic architecture of the Ghanaian economy ahead of the impending global economic revolution.
