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Akufo-Addo outlines
policies for a prosperous Ghana
The 2016 Presidential Candidate of the New
Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,
has outlined policies, he says, will deliver
prosperity on a sustainable basis for the
people of Ghana.
He delivered an address on Wednesday,
January 21, 2014 on the theme “Developing
Ghana – Policies for Prosperity” at Chatham
House, the Royal Institute of International
Affairs, a British think tank.
It was a 90 minute interaction with an
invited gathering, composed of
representatives of multinationals, diplomats
and policy analysts, on how his government
will manage the economy.
For Ghana to build a strong foundation that
can rapidly transform the economy in a
sustainable way, it requires a leadership
that can manage the economy with discipline,
vision and innovation, he stated.
Nana Akufo-Addo described the NPP as the
political party that understands business
because the party is fully aware of the
relationship between a vibrant economy and
the capacity of the state to deliver
opportunities and prosperity to the masses.
Building a future of opportunities and
prosperity will be hinged on a policy of
“education for all”, providing basic
infrastructure on the principle of value for
money, fighting corruption and strengthening
the democratic accountability tools of the
institutions of state, particularly at the
local level.
He said his vision for economic
transformation will focus on two main areas:
a vigorous expansion of agribusiness and
manufacturing.
“We have to modernise our agriculture and
process our agricultural products. Both
commercial and small-scale farmers will be
supported to improve their output and
develop their business,” he noted.
He pointed out that there are huge benefits
in improving the rural economy with direct
benefits to the majority of the population
in terms of incomes, lower food prices and
jobs. Agribusiness, from farming through
processing, warehousing and exports, will be
critical to the transformation agenda.
He said, when he looks ahead, in the next 15
years, West Africa is estimated to have an
economy with 500 million people. He wants
Ghana to position itself in a way that it
can help deepen the process of integration
and serve such a huge common market.
Nana Akufo-Addo told the gathering, “we
cannot transform the economy and the country
without transforming the knowledge and
skills of our people”, stating that
education, especially technical education
would be a major priority of an Akufo-Addo
government.
He reiterated that every child, rich or
poor, able-bodied or disabled, deserves a
good education, stressing that “the benefits
of an educated population far outweigh the
cost of getting it done.”
Still on the Ghanaian economy, Nana
Akufo-Addo was asked what would be the
number one priority of his government. He
responded without hesitation that his first
priority would be to ensure fiscal
discipline and macroeconomic stability. This
received all-round nods from the audience.
On the energy crisis, he said investors
(independent power producers) were ready to
come to Ghana but crucial to their coming
was knowing that the projects of interest
were bankable. That they would be paid and
their investments would not be disturbed by
macro-economic instability.
Such assurance is difficult to give in an
environment of currency depreciation, high
interest rates, high inflation, high budget
deficit, and reckless borrowing, which have
characterised the six years of the NDC
administration.
Furthermore, Nana Akufo-Addo stated that his
government would move away from a focus on
taxation to financing fiscal deficits to a
focus on production.
“This means providing incentives, including
tax incentives, to enhance production,
reducing the cost of doing business and
spreading the tax burden wider but thinner,”
he said.
Once stabilisation has been achieved, a
focus on growing and transforming the
economy from a raw material one to a
value-added kind would be aggressively
pursued, he stressed.
He said Ghana cannot continue with business
as usual. His government would deliberately
push for a payment system that achieves
financial inclusion by moving the majority
of citizens from cash to electronic payments
(debit cards) for transactions. He saw this
as important to growing the banking sector,
enlarging the formal sector and shrinking
the informal way of doing business in 21st
century Ghana.
To achieve the formalisation process of the
economy requires an efficient and reliable
national database system. The NPP will bring
to an end the perplexing delay in
introducing a national identification system
and a national housing address system, Nana
Akufo-Addo assured.
On the provision of basic infrastructure,
Nana Akufo-Addo told the gathering that
Ghana, today, is spending less on
infrastructure (5% of GDP) than before it
discovered oil, 7% of GDP in 2008 in the
last year of the Kufuor era.
“Thus contrary to expectations and
government rhetoric, Ghana is spending a
smaller proportion of its income, including
oil revenues, on infrastructure and more on
recurrent expenditure. 94% of the increase
in Government expenditure over the last six
years has been on recurrent expenditure. It
is critical to increase investment
expenditure if we are to grow the economy,”
Nana Akufo-Addo stressed.
To investors, he said his attitude is for a
win-win situation and his government would
promote join ventures between Ghanaians and
foreign investors. "Foreign investments are
extremely welcome in all areas of the
economy, but our approach is to ensure that
we grow the capacity of Ghanaian businesses
to compete", he said.
He assured the gathering that NPP
understands business, also because "many of
our people come into politics from a private
sector background."
To bring about prosperity, Nana Akufo-Addo
stated that Ghana needs a leadership of
conviction– which is committed to fighting
corruption and dedicated to the welfare and
wellbeing of the Ghanaian people.
NanaAkufo Addo
January 22, 2015
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