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Q&A With the AFRICAN OF THE YEAR: Nana Akufo-Addo

Nana Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s President, has repositioned the country in the global marketplace as one reliant on its own resources and strengths. He is redefining economic development and it’s resonating across Africa. In an exclusive interview with FORBES AFRICA, he dwells on the new focus of the West African nation that has in recent years consistently been one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. 



IN 2019, WHEN GHANA’S PRESIDENT NANA AKUFO-ADDO shared his vision for the national transformation agenda through the Ghana Beyond Aid (GBA) charter, the mandate for his New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was simple – move away from the traditional view of a Ghana dependent on aid to grow the economy and focus on its core competitive advantages.



Much before that, at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017 in Ghana’s capital Accra where a local journalist asked whether France was going to extend its support to other countries in Africa that were nonFrench colonies, the Ghanaian president, serving his first term, had interjected with: “We can no longer continue to make policy for ourselves in our continent on the basis of whatever support that the western world can give us. It will not work, it has not worked and it will not work.” A visibly uncomfortable Macron could all but muster a somewhat embarrassed smile at the audience.



But the video of this speech went viral and the remark won AkufoAddo praise on social media. The president followed by tasking his government to implement the GBA strategy document and charter for a more prosperous Ghana.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Congratulations to President of Ghana H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo (<a href="https://twitter.com/NAkufoAddo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NAkufoAddo</a>) for the well-deserved and earned <a href="https://twitter.com/forbesafrica?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@forbesafrica</a> African of the Year 2021. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AfricanOfTheYear?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AfricanOfTheYear</a> <a href="https://t.co/H3EHwqhG9D">pic.twitter.com/H3EHwqhG9D</a>&mdash; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (@MaEllenSirleaf) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaEllenSirleaf/status/1467812557067067398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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After years of negative growth and economic challenges, AkufoAddo had a new vision for Ghana when he assumed office in 2017, and that was for the country to look within, to its own capabilities. Central to his thinking of growing Ghana’s economy was offering free senior high school education to children who would otherwise not receive it.



Since its implementation, a total of 1.6 million students have reportedly benefited from the program. 



“We do want, and we shall work, to take Ghana to where she deserves to be, a prosperous and dynamic member of the world community which is neither a victim nor a pawn of the world order,” Akufo-Addo said in a speech at the 75th anniversary celebrations of North Rhine-Westphalia, a top industrial region in Germany. During the visit, the president expressed his determination for Ghana to wholeheartedly participate in the global marketplace not only as a supplier of raw materials but as a leading exporter of manufactured goods.



The messages were clear and consistent. Endowed with natural resources and human capital, Ghana wanted to take accountability for its own growth and economic development without relying solely on aid from former colonial masters.



The country had not been without its share of crises and difficulties. On the economic front, its over-reliance on gold and cocoa exports meant that there was little in the way of diversification with inflation peaking at 17.46%.



After the president won the 2016 elections and came to power in 2017, new oil fields were found with production starting in 2017 and jumping to 60 million barrels which resulted in a boost in oil export revenues, pushing the country’s economic growth above 6% for each of the three years to 2019, according to Reuters.



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<h1 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-nana-akufo-addo-has-been-adjudged-the-2021-african-of-the-year-previous-winners-of-the-coveted-award-include-rwandan-president-paul-kagame-2018-president-of-the-african-development-bank-akinwumi-adesina-2019-and-world-trade-organization-director-general-ngozi-okonjo-iweala-2020">Nana Akufo-Addo has been adjudged the ‘2021 African of the Year’. Previous winners of the coveted award include Rwandan President Paul Kagame (2018), President of the African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina (2019) and World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (2020).</h1>



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During that period, inflation receded to less than 10% for the first time in six years in 2018, according to figures from Ghana’s ministry of finance. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected a GDP growth rate of 8.8% in 2019 for Ghana as the fastest-growing economy in subSaharan Africa (SSA). A March 2018 article in The New York Times said:“Now, as oil prices rise again and the country’s oil production rapidly expands, Ghana is on track to make a remarkable claim for a country mired in poverty not long ago: It is likely to have one of the world’s fastest-growing economies this year, according to the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Brookings Institution.”



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="748" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-1024x748.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-44771 size-full" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-1024x748.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-300x219.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-600x438.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-768x561.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-1536x1122.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“I would like to warmly congratulate H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, on being named Forbes Africa&#8217;s &#8216;African of the Year.&#8217; This is an excellent and very well-deserved honour and recognition. As a leader, you continue to push the boundaries of what is possible for Ghana and the people of Africa. You are an embodiment of a remarkable &#8216;can-do&#8217; African spirit&#8230; a spirit of focused determination that seeks to make a difference in the lives of your people and unleash Africa&#8217;s true potential. Once again, congratulations and warm felicitations.&#8221;<cite>Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina, President, African Development Bank Group </cite></blockquote>




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A May 2019 article in the World Economic Forum concurred: “Just three decades ago, Ghana was in crisis; impoverished and suffering famine, it was on the verge of economic collapse. Fast-forward to the present day, the West African nation has staged a remarkable comeback and is predicted to be the world’s fastest-growing economy in 2019.”



The economic growth was not just buoyed by the discovery of oil but also what many economic pundits considered to be sound fiscal policies wrapped in a peaceful democracy. The world noticed. Companies such as Google, which in its bid to position itself as an ‘AI first’ company with already established centers in strategic cities such as Tokyo, Zurich and Paris, made the decision to open its first Artificial Intelligence center in Africa in Accra in 2019.



Exxon Mobil in 2018 moved to sign a deep-water oil exploration deal with Ghana after the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea drew a new ocean boundary favoring Ghana over the Ivory Coast in 2017, according to a Reuters report.



In 2020, automobile major Volkswagen expanded its footprint in SSA with the opening of a vehicle assembly facility in Accra, making Ghana its fifth vehicle assembly location in SSA (after South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda). And in April 2021, social media giant Twitter sent shock waves across the bigger economic hubs in Africa when it chose Ghana as its regional headquarters.



What has also been loudly clear has been Akufo-Addo’s deliberate strategy to involve the diaspora in the country’s economic growth. In September 2018, the president launched a year-long initiative to commemorate “the 400th anniversary of the firstrecorded forced arrival of enslaved African people to the United States” and dubbed it the Year of the Return, Ghana 2019.



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Congratulations President <a href="https://twitter.com/NAkufoAddo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NAkufoAddo</a> of Ghana on being named the African of the Year 2021 by the Forbes Africa Magazine. Thank you for your great leadership and all you do in positively projecting Africa. We are very proud of you, Your Excellency. 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 <a href="https://twitter.com/forbesafrica?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@forbesafrica</a> <a href="https://t.co/TfAp8lX1Ao">https://t.co/TfAp8lX1Ao</a>&mdash; Akinwumi A. Adesina (@akin_adesina) <a href="https://twitter.com/akin_adesina/status/1467119088245870595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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The President called for not just Ghanaians but people of African descent, including African-Americans, to return to Africa, or more specifically Ghana, in what was to be a reconnection with their roots. New visitors arriving to the shores of Ghana were welcomed to a shiny, newly-refurbished airport which was adjudged winner of best airport by passenger volume on the continent according to Airports Council International. In what is perhaps the president’s biggest PR campaign and by far the country’s loudest communication drive, it was estimated that the Year of the Return campaign resulted in an additional 237,000 visitors to Ghana accounting for a 45% increase compared to the previous year and thereby injecting $1.9 billion into the Ghanaian economy, according to figures from the Ghana Tourism Authority.



The country also made strides in the international bond market, raising $3 billion on the international debt market using a four-year zero-coupon bond tranche.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1133592927.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-53595" width="647" height="472" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1133592927.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1133592927-300x219.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1133592927-768x561.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 647px) 100vw, 647px" /><figcaption>President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo delivers the Keynote Address for the 2019 10th Annual Africa Development Conference at Harvard University (Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



“This historic bond issuance is a strong signal that investors have confidence in our plan for debt sustainability, economic recovery and growth,” said Ghana’s finance minister Ken OforiAtta, as reported in Reuters.



And where investors have confidence, foreign direct investments (FDI) follow. According to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), despite the pandemic, total investment inflows reached $2,796.49 million in 2020, with a total FDI value of $2,650.97 million accounting for a 139.06% increase over 2019.



This means some 279 projects were registered within the year amounting to an estimate of 27,110 jobs being generated from those projects. Another plus? The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement which came into effect from January 2021. Ghana was selected amongst its peers as the trading bloc’s Secretariat. 



The AfCFTA is estimated to create a single continental market for goods and services covering a market of 1.2 billion people and accounting for a combined GDP of $3 trillion.



“As a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate. Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area aligns with our overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate. Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area aligns with our overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa,” says Uche Adegbite, Director, Product Management at Twitter on the company’s ‘Twitter’s presence in Africa’ blog post.



These milestones, in a historic pandemic period, could have played a part in the re-election of the 77-year-old statesman for a second term as Ghana’s president, from January 2021.



With a long lineage of political luminaries as ancestors, it was perhaps in Akufo-Addo’s destiny to lead the country.



Prior to assuming office as president, he practised as a human rights lawyer in France and England. His father, Edward Akufo-Addo, who was a lawyer, was the nation’s president in the late 1960s and one of the founding fathers of Ghana.



“Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, an indefatigable visionary, has not only inspired his country but the continent of Africa to rise up and shine. He has, through his aspirations and efforts, transformed Ghana into a modern economy. His influence has reached beyond Ghana to the continent, pleading the case of a Ghana Beyond Aid thereby infusing a great dose of confidence to transform the continent. This is positively changing the narrative and bringing real hope of a brighter future to Africa’s youth. Primus inter pares [first among equals],” says Yofi Grant, CEO of GIPC, to FORBES AFRICA.



When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the country revised its 7% growth projections to about 1%, but it did not slip into recession.



The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) recorded an impressive 36.13% in dollar terms for investors in the first half of 2021, with a market capitalization of GHC61.3 billion ($10 billion).



“Ghana has been consistently one of the fastest-growing economies in the world for each of the last four years, notwithstanding the decline of GDP growth to 0.9% in 2020 as a result of Covid-19,” says Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of Ghana, to FORBES AFRICA.



Bawumia lists key indicators such as the reduction of lending rates from 32% in 2016 to 21% in 2020, increasing gross international reserves from $6.1 billion in 2016 to $8.6 billion in 2020, the upgrade of Ghana’s first credit rating in 10 years from B- in 2016 to B with a stable outlook, and the implementation of the ‘one district, one warehouse’ as well as the ‘one district, one factory’ initiatives.



Another area of focus is Ghana’s growing youth population.



There is a push to create an enabling environment for technology startups and for small and medium entrepreneurs to thrive.



According to a World Bank report, Ghana Digital Economy Diagnostic, the Ghanaian government is spearheading the adoption of digital financial services (DFS) through the National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy 2017-2023, which makes the government accountable to measures to achieving universal access to DFS as well as creating an Africa-wide payments infrastructure by 2030.



For full Q &amp; A with Nana Akufo-Addo, <a href="https://shop.forbesafrica.com/product/single-digital-issue-african-of-the-year-dec-jan-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">click here to download your Digital Copy </a>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-1024x341.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-53596" width="748" height="248" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-1024x341.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-300x100.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-768x256.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-2048x683.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px" /></figure></div>

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AFRICAN OF THE YEAR: NANA AKUFO-ADDO

A look back at Ghana&#8217;s closely-contested 2020 presidential elections, and views from both sides.



On December 7, 2020, 13,434,574 votes were counted in Ghana’s 2020 democratic elections. Vying for the head of state position were two opponents who had faced off at the ballot box twice before, former President John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo representing the New Patriotic Party (NPP).&nbsp;



In an economic climate ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic and a number of catastrophic political tensions that have temporarily decimated peace in countries like Tanzania, Guinea and Uganda, the eyes of the world were once again firmly fixed on Ghana, a poster child of democracy for the African continent, after seven peaceful transitions of power in its 30-year democratic history.



For President Akufo-Addo, this was the fourth presidential election he had campaigned for back-to-back since 2008. This time, however, his campaign strategy was based on his track record. He urged Ghanaians to remember his pledges in the NPP’s 2016 manifesto which promised, among other things, to abolish fees at public and senior high schools, ensure each district has a factory and a hospital, and establishing a special anti-corruption prosecutor.



“I think President Akufo-Addo has delivered on everything he promised and where he has not delivered, it is still a work in progress. There is now free education in public schools, which has helped thousands of children be able to get an education, and factories and hospital construction have began in each district. Nobody is perfect but at least we need someone who has a vision that the country can follow at this time and that is what President Akufo-Addo and the NPP have. Where is the vision of the NDC party?” asks Emmanuel Asare-Amankwa, a businessman in Ghana.



That vision it seems was enough to propel President Akufo-Addo to the top position once again with 6,730,413 votes representing 51.59% of the votes, narrowly beating former President Mahama’s 6,214,889 or 47.36%.



“Usually in an election, it is normal for the winning party to also win a majority of the seats in parliament but this was not the case. The NDC have actually won a majority of the parliamentary seats and that shows you that there is something wrong here,” says John Dumelo, an actor-turned-politician with the NDC party.&nbsp;



Dumelo contested for the Ayawaso West parliamentary primaries, also losing by a tight margin of just 2,000 votes. The leading actor with over 3 million followers on Instagram is still happy about the impact his candidacy has made.



“I think it is important for the youth of Ghana to join politics because we need to have a voice in our own future. I run in a state that was traditionally an NPP stronghold and we lost by only 2,000 votes so it shows you that people were desperate for a change. I know I have made an impact.



“I decided to run because as an actor, you are limited by how many good deeds you can do. How many bore holes can one build in a village, or how many philanthropic acts can you do before actually making real change? By being in politics, you have the opportunity to influence the law and that is real power and real change,” avers Dumelo.



President Akufo-Addo may have his work cut out for him in his second term. Out of the 275 parliamentarians, his party lost a handful of seats and only secured 137 seats against the NDC’s 136 seats. 



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49330" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“I think it is important for the youth of Ghana to join politics because we need to have a voice in our own future.” – John Dumelo</blockquote>
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“The loss of a clear majority is going to be a challenge for President Akufo-Addo to easily implement his policies and his vision for Ghana but it is certainly not impossible. Ghana needs strong leadership and I believe President Akufo-Addo is the best man for the job especially after the way he handled Ghana’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Victor Oppong, a stock-broker in Ghana.



On the top of the president’s agenda is implementing the $17 billion program to boost growth in Ghana’s economy. His win is one that is welcomed by the investment community in Ghana. In August this year, President Akufo-Addo ushered in the opening of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat in Accra, a pioneering project by the African Union’s Agenda 2063 that will create $3 trillion of GDP.&nbsp;



“The country has demonstrated the confidence it has in President Nana Akufo-Addo by voting him to stay in office. This confidence is also demonstrated by the business community who clearly are excited about the opportunities that the CFTA will bring particularly with a Ghana Beyond Aid agenda. Ghana through exemplary leadership has shown resilience and robustness in the face of the pandemic and recovery has accelerated.”



“By end of the third quarter, FDI had climbed up to over a billion dollars through projects in mining, energy and manufacturing. And this is instructive of the confidence of investors in the Ghana story. Aggressive reforms will continue to ensure a very competitive investor and business climate. All in all, continuity and sustainability in the good Ghana story, satisfactory control of the pandemic, a robust economic recovery and revitalization plan will do well for Ghana going forward,” says Yofi Grant, CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.



‘A Man In A Hurry’



Valerie Obaze, the daughter of President Nana Akufo-Addo and entrepreneur, spoke to FORBES AFRICA after the win:“Less than 24 hours after hearing the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission declare Nana Akufo-Addo (my father) as the winner of the 2020 presidential race, we as a family are all relieved. This is despite the confidence with which we approached this election, believing strongly that his excellent leadership over four years was more than enough for Ghanaians to give him a second term. However, elections and anxiety are not all that unfamiliar to our family. We have been here before.&nbsp;



“To know Nana Akufo-Addo personally, like I have the privilege to do, is to know a selfless man, who is constant, perseveres and has a heart for his people. He has dedicated his adult life to the struggle for a free, democratic and prosperous Ghana.&nbsp;



“Our father is a workaholic and at his age, we even wonder where he gets his energy from. He enjoys working and we sometimes feel sorry for those who work closely with him. He is in the office everyday from morning to midnight and even then when he gets home you would be lucky if he doesn’t move straight into his study.  



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="683" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-683x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-49332" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-683x1024.jpeg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-200x300.jpeg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-768x1152.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-1024x1536.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-1365x2048.jpeg 1365w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-300x450.jpeg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-600x900.jpeg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-scaled.jpeg 1707w" sizes="(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“To know Nana Akufo-Addo personally, like I have the privilege to do, is to know a selfless man, who is constant, perseveres and has a heart for his people. He has dedicated his adult life to the struggle for a free, democratic and prosperous Ghana.” – Valerie Obaze</blockquote>
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“He is a man in a hurry: to see his country develop; the lives of the people enhanced, and Ghana become an example for the rest of Africa. I am excited about his second term because it coincides with the agenda to finally build an integrated Africa. My father will play a major role in this, especially with Ghana as the secretariat for AfCFTA. The election is over and in his words, “time to get back to work”. We as his family will always be proud of how tirelessly he is working to make his dream to see Ghana holding its own in the international realm come true. He has restored confidence in the Ghanaian and we are all excited about the future of our country, and by extension, our continent.”

GHANA-VOTE

The Road To A $17 Billion Program To Boost Ghana’s Economy, and Words From The First Daughter

Move over Lagos. Accra is campaigning hard to bring
international tourism and business to its verdant shores.



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Outside Accra’s shiny new Kotoka International Airport is a
fleet of 30 black Land Cruisers waiting for a motley group of 60
African-Americans gripped by wanderlust. 



The airport, birthed from the partnership between Ghana
Airports Company Limited (GACL) and Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), now
processes around 1,250 passengers per hour with a goal of welcoming some six
million passengers each year to the leafy West African country, according to
Joshua Otchere of Ghana Immigration Service. 



This is Ghana’s attempt to become the hub of sub-regional
travel by distinguishing itself from the likes of Lagos. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="920" height="612" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-39165" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana1.png 920w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana1-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana1-600x399.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana1-768x511.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 920px) 100vw, 920px" /><figcaption>Women sell fish at a thriving market in Accra. Picture: Getty</figcaption></figure>



“We are now offering better services, faster turnaround
times from airlines and a world-class experience when traveling, which we
believe will compete with the rest of the world along with great retail
spaces,” says Otchere.



It is a fitting welcome to the star-studded group of
visitors including international supermodel Naomi Campbell and actors Idris
Elba, Anthony Anderson and Rosario Dawson among many others. Ghana, once a
major hub for the transatlantic slave trade from the 16th to the 19th
centuries, has several historical ties with the USA. 



Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo declared and formerly
launched ‘Year of Return Ghana 2019’ for Africans in the diaspora in Washington
D.C., in September last year with the aim of uniting Africans on the continent
with their brothers and sisters abroad. Tasked with playing her role to make
that vision a reality is fellow Ghanaian and Chief Marketing Officer of William
Morris Endeavor, Bozoma Saint John. 



“I had an audience with the president after meeting him at
an event by the Africa-America Institute in New York where we were both
presented with awards. During my acceptance speech, I spoke about Ghana and
when I came back to Ghana, he asked me what I was going to do to represent
Ghana in the diaspora,” says John. 



“He said he was proud of my achievements but what am I going
to do specifically to help promote Ghana. I took it to heart and I thought
about all the friends that I have invited to Ghana throughout the years and all
of those who have changed their opinions about what Ghana is and sometimes it
was only after a week. So I knew how powerful that process was,” she says.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="407" height="558" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ghana2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-39166" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ghana2.png 407w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ghana2-300x411.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ghana2-219x300.png 219w" sizes="(max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px" /><figcaption>Traditional dancers in Ghana. Picture: Getty</figcaption></figure></div>



The former Chief Brand Officer of Uber immediately reached
out to Hollywood star Boris Kodjoe to brainstorm on how they could get more
people to join them to discover Ghana and the Full Circle Festival was born.



“Boris and I thought about who we could invite. It wasn’t
about just getting the biggest names, it was about inviting our friends who
have influence both in Hollywood and in the business circles who can come to
Ghana and really enjoy the experience,” says John.



The country came fourth out of 19 countries in CNN’s list of
top places to visit in 2019. In addition, there have been massive
infrastructure projects, digital skills training for millions as well as
substantial investments into the startup ecosystem. 



“Google is setting up its Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
in Accra and that shows just how far we have come as an economy and country,”
says Franklin Cudjoe, President of Imani Centre for Policy and Education, a
leading Ghanaian think-tank.



This year, Ghana is attempting to ramp up its tourism
status. The initiative is set to attract some half a million tourists, with
about 350,000 coming in from North America, while the rest will come from the
Carribean, South America and Europe, according to Ghana Tourism Authority
(GTA).



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="917" height="605" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana4.png" alt="" class="wp-image-39167" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana4.png 917w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana4-300x198.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana4-600x396.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana4-768x507.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 917px) 100vw, 917px" /><figcaption> In the middle, Chief Marketing Officer of William Morris Endeavor, Bozoma Saint John. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure>



“We expect a lot of networking and business opportunities to
come out of this unique initiative especially between Ghana and the USA that
will generate revenues for local industries in Ghana,” says Akwasi Agyeman,
Chief Executive Officer of GTA.



For the attendees of the recent Full Circle Festival,
however, the experience is somewhat more about a deeper spiritual connection.
Activities included a visit to the historic Cape Coast castle as well as
tourist hotspots like the Royal Senchi resort and a trip to Lake Volta,
Africa’s largest artificial reservoir.



“It is hard to explain what it feels like when you spend time in a place where double-consciousness doesn’t exist, the freedom to just be, the peace of mind and to be closer to your ancestors’ spirit than you have ever been. 



 “To feel the dreadful weight inside the slave dungeons and then the surge of empowerment when you step back into your life with a newfound purpose and 400 years of collective survival energy behind you. To connect with your royal heritage and to see the beauty in your culture that can never be denied. To eat the food and dance all night and connect with people who carry such effortless joy and pride, I simply love Ghana,” says actor Kodjoe.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="461" height="566" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana3.png" alt="" class="wp-image-39168" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana3.png 461w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana3-300x368.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana3-244x300.png 244w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" /><figcaption>The Full Circle Festival at the Labadi Beach Ghana. Picture:Getty</figcaption></figure></div>



It has been 400 years since the first enslaved Africans
arrived in North America. For many, the impact of the slave trade cannot be
overlooked. 



For John, this is the beginning of a journey of
enlightenment for her friends in Hollywood. It is time to play her part for
Ghana by bringing awareness to the destination as a tourist hotspot for the US.




As CMO of one of the biggest talent agencies in the US, her
opinion certainly holds weight. And there is no shortage of passion when it
comes to the country that seems to have now captured the attention of corporate
America.

accra

IN PICTURES | Ghana Earning Its Stars And Stripes Through Tourism

The first-ever Africa Investment Forum was a resounding success with some fascinating math: 49 projects worth $38.7 billion over three days, all for the continent. 



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



On a breezy Wednesday morning in November in Johannesburg, there is a feverish bustle at the Sandton Convention Centre, one of South Africa’s most prestigious destinations for conferences. Known for regularly hosting world-class exhibitions and events, today, it is playing host to one of the most important events of the year. 



The second floor of the convention center is pulsating with action and excitement as hundreds of businessmen and power women in sharp suits and African attire greet each other. At each corner of the grand room are huge posters with quotes that say, “People don’t eat potential! It’s time to turn potential into real deals,” and,



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">We believe that the growth of Africa’s economy represents opportunities for its neighbors </blockquote>



The word on everyone’s lips is transactions. The inaugural edition of the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB), is officially opened by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. 



The bigwigs of corporate Africa and political power brokers are all here, including Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, along with Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and Ethiopia’s first female president Sahle-Work Zewde. 



The AfDB describes the forum as a collaborative platform for the economic and social development of the continent. The goal is to bring together project sponsors, borrowers, lenders and public and private sector investments to unlock billions of dollars that will accelerate investment. The rationale is simple. Six of the 10 fastest-growing economies are in Africa, yet Africa has a mammoth infrastructure funding gap of $130-$170 billion a year. 



The man called ‘Mr. Development’ in the October 2018 issue of FORBES AFRICA, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina, believes there needs to be a convergence of stakeholders from all over Africa to broker deals that finally unlock the potential of Africa. 



As with any conference with a multitude of minds, opinions are divided for this one too. On the one hand are those who quietly wonder whether this is going to be yet another three days of rhetoric and ambiguous targets that bear no fruit? Then you have those believers who are convinced that Africa is ripe for an integrated marketplace that can actually deliver real growth. 



For these people, the AIF offers new hope. They believe that the continent’s largest and smallest economies are ready to come together and take charge of their own destiny. 



According to the World Bank, year-on-year economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is slashed by two percentage points due to a lack of infrastructure. Analysts believe around $100 billion must be invested each year to eliminate the deficit and give African infrastructure a shot at competing with other developing regions. 



Traditionally, the World Bank, the AfDB and African governments have sought to address the infrastructure gap by investing in larger infrastructure projects valued at more than $1 billion. 



This means smaller-scale projects, in the $100 million to $200 million range, which are also necessary for the development goals of the continent, are neglected. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">History shows that trade has the potential to transform nations. </blockquote>





Adesina believes this.&nbsp;





“The AIF is probably the most important game-changing initiative for accelerated economic development in Africa. It is a unique platform for investment, finance, transparent transactions and a genuine African marketplace for closing deals to accelerate the economic development of Africa. The fact is that no individual benefactor, no matter how rich, or government or sovereign wealth fund, or even a multilateral development bank, for that matter, can provide the resources to meet Africa’s critical economic development needs,” he says in his opening address at the conference. 



According to Adesina, the solution is clear. Africa can and Africa must collectively work towards financing its development, requiring broad partnerships with the private sector and an appreciation of the realities of global investment partners. 



“This will be an African investment marketplace where the AfDB and its partners will screen and enhance bankable projects and attract co-investors and facilitate transactions to close Africa’s investment gaps. This platform will reduce intermediation costs and improve the quality of documentation and information and increase active and productive engagements between African governments and the private sector,” he says. 



It is that type of collaboration that brings Shamima Mallam-Hassam, Country Executive of Alter Domus, all the way from Mauritius to Johannesburg. 



“We are a leading fund and corporate services provider, headquartered in Luxemburg, with an office in Mauritius. The purpose of being at the Africa Investment Forum is to meet with people that have projects in Africa, that we can help in their structuring, and use Mauritius as a platform for their investment into Africa. So this is a very high-level forum, where a lot of insights have been shared about where Africa is going and how there can be more collaborations to make projects happen,” she says. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-38061" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AIF-190_EthiopianPresident.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Ethiopia&#8217;s first female president Sahle- Zewde networking with delegates at the Africa Investment Forum. Picture: Gypseenia Lion</figcaption></figure>



Can developing nations thrive in a global economy without an international, collective mind-set? International organizations like the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) believe that for sustainable development to exist, more developed African economies need to break down barriers between them and less developed economies. To begin with, the continent needs to address rising unemployment. 



“We need to create 400 million jobs for 400 million Africans, who are already born, between now and 2030. These massive numbers need massive responses,” says Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) during a panel conversation at AIF. A total of 49 deals were made at the AIF, which were valued at $38.7 billion, according to the final numbers released. These deals represent a renaissance for the African continent. But the concern for some is whether the returns from these deals will remain on the continent. 



“The ownership of industrial assets must be African companies. A lot of developers make the mistake of allowing foreign ownership, which alters the trajectory of your destiny,” says Basil El-Baz, chairman and CEO of Egypt’s Carbon Holdings. 



The all-important issue of women’s empowerment in corporate Africa is also discussed. A panel in ‘Investing in women for accelerated growth’ reveals women entrepreneurs experience a significant funding gap of $42 billion annually, but are more likely to repay loans compared to male borrowers. David Makhura, the premier of the Gauteng province where the conference is held, attests: “African women need to be supported. They are the ones that sell to provide for their children and families.” 



The panel comprises prominent and successful women, including Ibukun Awosika, president of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Hayat Sindi, senior advisor to the president of the Islamic Development Bank, and Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, chairperson of Kalagadi Manganese. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">We need to make women a critical component of our financial system <cite> Ibukun Awosika</cite></blockquote>



Underpinning the market place is ‘The AIF Platform’, that connects 200,000 American businesses and users from 100 countries, many of whom are potential investors and trade partners for Africa. 



The AIF Platform is announced in partnership with the Inter Development Bank (IDB) who launched a similar platform, Connect America, in 2014. “We have over 400 million smartphones in Africa. Within a few years, this number will exceed a billion. But none of these are made in Africa. We are the consumers but we’re not the value creators,” says Ashish Thakkar, founder of Mara Group, before the closing plenary. 



The AIF Platform was created to address exactly this. By connecting African-based companies like Mara to global trade partners, there can be economies of scale. 



If there is one thing to take away from the conference, it is this: there is a fight to back Africa as an investable destination so that capital can land in the continent and unlock its potential. As Adesina puts it: “This is Africa’s time to change the rhetoric. We need to make Africa independent; we can no longer build Africa relying on aid. The only way to achieve this is a complete rise in intra-Africa trade.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="926" height="617" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote.png" alt="" class="wp-image-38063" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote.png 926w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote-600x400.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Dangote-768x512.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px" /><figcaption>Africa&#8217;s richest man, Aliko Dangote attended the inaugural Africa Investment Forum. Picture: Gypseenia Lion</figcaption></figure>



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Akinwumi-Adesina

Deals, Dollars and Developments On The African Continent

At least the new president Nana Akufo-Addo is optimistic. In a press statement he called for reflection on what makes Ghanaians who they are. This year’s theme, according to him, is:  “Mobilizing for Ghana’s Future.” That is, a year for Ghanaians to understand their country’s shortcomings and look at ways to improve.
Good timing, when growth is falling. According to figures from the World Bank, Ghana’s economy grew by 4.9% during the first quarter of 2016. However, overall gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the whole of 2016 could be below the 3.9% achieved in 2015, due to production problems in oil.
Inflation is at 16.7%, made worse by the country’s erratic energy supply that sees businesses put prices up when they use generators.
Victor Ohene Oppong, Founder of Invest Hub, a financial advisory firm in Accra, is, like many of his countrymen, in no mood for jubilation.
<div id="attachment_4605" style="width: 245px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4605" class="size-medium wp-image-4605" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/GettyImages-146126958-235x300.jpg" alt="" width="235" height="300" />Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of newly independent Ghana, Ghana, mid to late 1950s. The British crown colony of the Gold Coast, became its own country of Ghana on March 6, 1957, with Dr. Nkrumah as its first President. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images)</div>
“Sixty years ago our founding father, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah famously opined, Ghana your beloved country is free forever, and we all thought managing our own resources would lead to prosperity for everyone but that has simply not been the case. We have issued our fifth Eurobond debt for $750 million and the oil crisis has led to a sharp contraction in oil exports. Businesses are fighting for survival because when there is no cash flow you die. So what is there to celebrate?” he says.
Economic hard times have hit Oppong in the pocket. Last year, he had to lay off five expatriates and close down one of his two branches because of low revenues.
“The debt to GDP ratio stands at about 70% and the last unemployment figures show at least 42% of people are still struggling to find jobs. I think the president is right when he calls this a time of reflection, we need to think very hard and carefully about the future of this country,” says Oppong.
Richmond Nartey, Managing Director of RN Shipping in Tema, agrees.
“Sixty years is a lifetime. For most people that is the age when they begin to think about retirement and enjoying life. But that is not the case for Ghana. The value of our currency is still very weak against the dollar and even though we decided to use our own local currency, many companies still charge in dollars. Foreign currency restrictions in Ghana are still a big issue for our kind of business. What happens to businesses that cannot get their hands on the much-needed dollars to be able to run their business?” says Nartey.
Following the end of decades of rule by former coup leader Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, Ghana has done its best to clean up its democratic act. Ghana’s two-party electoral system is earning the confidence of the world for its peaceful political transitions. For this reason alone, Mary Osei, Account Manager at HFC Bank, believes there is cause to celebrate.
“This is a time to remember all the things that make this country a wonderful place to live. Yes, there are several challenges we are facing, but which economy isn’t facing challenges? We have to continue to work together to build on the achievements we have and make this nation great,” says Osei.
“If there was ever a day to be proud of your Ghanaian heritage and to be patriotic, there is no better day than March 6, so I do not agree with the naysayers and people who believe there is no need for celebrations,” she says.
Yet the debate over how to celebrate Ghana’s 60th birthday has been fierce. Akufo-Addo set up a 30-member committee to plan the celebrations with a budget of GHc20 million ($4.57 million), which has proved controversial on the streets.
“If there is anywhere that money needs to be spent, it should be in the creative industry instead of throwing it away on branding buses with faces of old presidents or parties. There are failing sectors in the economy where that money could be put to much better use,” says Adamz, a hip-hop artist in Ghana.
The influence of Ghana’s independence over Africa cannot be underestimated. It was the first black African nation to cast off colonialism and inspired many others to follow suit.
&#8220;At long last, the battle has ended!  And thus, Ghana, your beloved country is free forever!&#8221; said Ghana’s first leader Kwame Nkrumah on independence night in 1957. The new leader wore his prison cap – a symbol of his incarceration by the British during his independence struggle – with the letters PG, for prison graduate, embroidered on the front.
Martin Luther King Jr. was with half a million Ghanaians at the ceremony and saw a parallel with Ghana’s freedom and his struggle for civil rights in the United States.
“Before I knew it, I started weeping. I was crying for joy. And I knew about all of the struggles, and all of the pain, and all of the agony that these people had gone through for this moment,” recalled King in an interview years later.
Nkrumah, the father of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which evolved into the African Union, drew many admirers in his first bold steps as a pan-Africanist leader. They included a young teacher by the name of Robert Mugabe who had been seconded to Ghana, by the then Rhodesian government, to a training college.
Mugabe was very taken by the sight of confident Africans in an independent nation and returned home determined to fight for an independent Zimbabwe.
Independence turned out to be bittersweet for Ghana – it was followed by assassination attempts and coups. The idealistic Nkrumah disappointed many when he declared himself president-for-life in 1964.
At least, in the 21st century, democracy in Ghana is closer than it probably ever has been to the shining ideals of 1957.

Ghana At 60

Nana Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate for Ghana’s main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), takes to the lectern in a theater packed with university students wearing the party colors of red, white and blue. Dressed in a white shirt, wearing his familiar round glasses, that accentuate his equally round face, the British-educated lawyer, turned politician, outlines his vision to transform Ghana, a nation dependent on the export of raw materials, into a thriving industrial economy.
“We have to make a deliberate, conscious effort to modernize our economy, industrialize our economy and make it a value-adding economy,” he says at the University of Ghana, in the capital, Accra.
“There are many countries in the world, [which] had similar backgrounds [to] ours that undertook this transformation, and succeeded, especially the nations of Asia—Japan, Korea, Thailand. If the Asians can do it, can we not do it here in Ghana, in Africa?”
“We are capable of doing it!” the students roar.
Ghana’s December polls are expected to be the most closely contested in West Africa, with the ruling National Democratic Congress and opposition NPP shaping their policy platforms around industrialization and social welfare. This ideal of a modern industrial African society has existed since independence, when Kwame Nkrumah, the nation’s visionary first socialist leader, followed the then popular model of import-substitution industrialization and set up a slew of state enterprises and manufacturing companies that eventually collapsed and weighed the country down with debt.
Decades later, Ghana boasts a fast growing economy that is diversifying. Close to 50% of GDP is generated by the services sector, according to Ghana Services Statistics. But despite this growth and economic shift, 60% of Ghanaians are employed in agriculture. Since 1996, manufacturing has plummeted from 26% of the economy to a mere 3% today. Ghana’s economy may be booming on paper but like many African countries, it is stuck in a pattern of exporting raw commodities and importing manufactured goods.
Socialist sentiments underscore the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party’s political rhetoric, yet both major political parties view the private sector as a driving force behind economic growth. The NDC believes the state should play a stronger role in development. By contrast, the more capitalist NPP—led by President John Dramani Mahama, the former vice president who replaced the late President John Atta Mills—argues for social goods and protection against market forces.
“You must find a way of regulating the market so that it doesn’t create a class of society that loses out because everything is left to market forces,” said Mahama, in a recent interview with The Africa Report.
Both parties are committed to education and health, with free senior high school being the centerpiece of the NPP’s campaign.
From the perspective of the Ghanaian business community, the differences are subtle.
“The manifestoes are similar—they are speaking the same language with just a little color,” says Prosper Adabla, a businessman and vice president of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce.
“We have a mixture of socialism and capitalism and that is making us move well… The businessman is free, basically, to do what he wants.”
The creation of industries that process Ghana’s raw commodities, are policy platforms for both parties, with a particular emphasis on agricultural modernization. The NDC’s manifesto promises an agricultural industry strengthened by subsidies. Both parties argue that entrepreneurship is also key to economic growth and jobs.
But leaders in the business community say that while progress has been made in the way of policy, the government needs to do more to boost local business and protect it from the influx of imports from China and elsewhere.
“The government needs to do more to protect local industry through building local capacity, helping provide better access to finance and funding arrangements and improving technology,” says Seth Twum-Akwaboah, the executive director of the Association of Ghana Industries.
While positive policy developments have been made, among them the launch of an industrial policy last year, Twum-Akwaboah says that there must be more focus on implementation. Electricity offers a significant challenge for industry with erratic supplies and the recent closure of the West African Gas Pipeline, reportedly due to technical faults.
The presidential elections are expected to be close, but independent pollsters say that it is too early to determine who will claim victory in December. The NDC government will have to work hard to prove it can drive the economy forward. Ghana’s economic growth rate, which soared to great heights last year, has fallen to 7.1%, short of the projected growth rate of 9.4%, according to the Ghana Statistical Services. This along with the sharp depreciation of the Ghanaian cedi against the greenback by 17% in the first half of the year, a failed multi-billion dollar government housing project deal, and millions of Ghanaian cedis paid out in judgment debts for abrogated government contracts, pose hurdles for the NDC government.
Both parties face rising youth unemployment, poverty, underdevelopment in the northern regions, and accusations of corruption and financial mismanagement. Ghana ranked 69 out of 182 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index in 2011, down seven places the previous year.
Vitus Azeem who heads the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the Ghana chapter of Transparency International, says both parties have the political will to tackle government corruption.
“One of the issues is the lack of commitment of the people in power to take action against those who are alleged to be responsible for corrupt acts, especially when it involves people who are involved with and tied to the party.”
Florence Dennis, executive secretary of Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, of which GII is a party, echoes this sentiment, adding that while legislation is in place, allegations of corruption too often become politicized.
“For the past years our concern is that a lot of these corruption issues are politically handled and it doesn’t allow a fair sort of support from the public in terms of dealing with it.”
Ghana is among the few African countries that economists say will likely achieve the Millennium Development Goals. But the economic disparities between the arid north and tropical south pose a major challenge for Ghana, according to development economist Jeffrey Sachs. This development divide is starkly illustrated in the slums of Accra, hidden away by the city’s construction boom, where thousands of northerners flock in search of work.
In Old Fadama, Accra’s largest slum, men and women toil: dragging clumps of metal scraps and waste on rickety wooden trolleys, carrying loads on their heads, sending money back home to their families in the north, saving so they can start their own small businesses.
Inusah Sayibu, a 36-year-old tailor and father of three, has lived in Old Fadama for more than 10 years. With the small money he saved from cleaning out wood shavings from a sawmill, he gathered enough money to pay a master to train him to be a tailor. Sayibu earns ¢100 ($50) a month, well below the national average of $1,400 per annum, according to World Bank figures.
“If I could go back home, I would, but there are no companies, no jobs,” says Sayibu.
When I ask him who he will vote for, he says President Mahama and flicks his right thumb up. Mahama is from the northern region and many in Old Fadama expect that as a son of their soil, he will develop the north.
Nkrumah’s vision of a modern industrialized society has been a vision for Ghana throughout its political history, but some argue that the government ought to be more skeptical about this ideal.
“None of these two parties have questioned the idea [of] industrialization and whether it is the right form of development for an African country, particularly given the problems associated with industrialization in the advanced industrialized world now,” says Michael Whyte Kpessa from the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana.
“The question is, should we be industrializing now? Or should we be looking at alternative forms of development that are more sustainable, that are more germane to our particular socio-cultural circumstances.”
For the Ghana Chamber of Commerce agricultural industrialization is the way forward. “We are an agrarian economy. It is going to be difficult for us to industrialize because of the competition,” says Adabla.
Adabla adds that it will take a number of years to achieve this vision.
While Ghana may be touted as the ‘rising black star’ by some, there is still a long way to go.

Tag: Nana Akufo-Addo