Ghana loses $3bn to dum-so -Prez

 

By Maxwell Ofori

President Akufo-Addo has revealed that the energy crisis, which hit the nation for four solid years with its attendant loss of jobs, caused us a whopping $3 billion. According to him, small, medium and large-scale operators suffered under the mismanagement of the energy sector.

Launching the second edition of the Policy Summit in Accra yesterday, the President attributed the poor performance of the industrial sector to the power crisis, adding that it had suffered one of the most significant setbacks in the history of the country over the past few years.

According to the President, in the year 2008, when former President John Agyekum Kufuor was leaving office, the industrial sector had grown to 15.1 per cent, but, sadly, reduced to minus 1.4 per cent in 2016.

“In 2015, manufacturing recorded a negative of minus 2 per cent, while mining recorded a negative growth of minus 3.8 per cent. A significant number of small, medium and large-scale operators were all brought to their knees as a result of four years of ‘dum-so’, induced by the mismanagement of the energy sector,” he said.

He also attributed the poor performance of business and manufacturing to lack of access to finance, high interest rates, unstable exchange rate, high import duties on raw materials and machinery, and poor facilitation of import and export trade among other factors.

Meanwhile, he further expressed the government’s commitment to put the proper measures in place to ensure that such a crisis did not happen again.

“Our strategy is to address these challenges comprehensively in ways that will enable industries to thrive and become a major source of jobs, economic growth and prosperity. It is against this background that our trade and industry policy and programmes have been designed,” he said.

The President stated that his administration’s agenda of industrial transformation was anchored in building the competitiveness of existing local industries, by facilitating access to medium and long-term financing at low interest rates.

“Implementing the ‘One District, One Factory’ initiative, designed to bring industrialisation to the doorsteps of the people, establishing industrial parks and special economic zones, at least, in each of the ten regions, one region one park,” he remarked.

According to him, promotion of small and medium scale enterprise development and establishing an industrial sub-contracting exchange was to link SMEs to the supply chain of large scale enterprises.

He also said the government would promote export diversification, with particular emphasis on non-traditional exports, and would also improve domestic retail trade and domestic manufacturing.

The government would enhance the business-enabling environment through regulatory and legislative reforms, and promote public private sector dialogue as an institutionalised process for consultation.

“These policy initiatives and programmes would be complemented by other policy interventions, to leverage optimum support to the development of the private sector,” he said, and added that the initiatives were crafted after extensive consultations with the private sector and other players.

President Akufo-Addo said his team began the consultations during the 2016 elections campaign, and indicated that the critical phase of implementation required the unflinching support of all Ghanaians, particularly, the private sector.

 

  By Maxwell Ofori President Akufo-Addo has revealed that the energy crisis, which hit the nation for four solid years with its attendant loss of jobs, caused us a whopping $3 billion. According to him, small, medium and large-scale operators suffered under the mismanagement of the energy sector. Launching the second edition of the Policy […] Read Full Story