A new frontier

President Akufo-Addo’s administration brings an exciting roadmap for the future.

On the 7th January 2017 the leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Akufo-Addo was inaugurated President of Ghana following a peaceful election.

His message to the Ghanaian people was one of change; prioritising economic stability and projecting it securely forward towards a future of growth, self sufficiency and well-being. Two months later Ghana celebrated 60 years of independence from colonial rule and the country exploded in red, gold and green while parades filled the streets.

The optimism sparked from the new administration’s policies and management became entangled with the festivities and celebrations. The Ghanaian people were united on a wave of hope and positivity that reverberated across the country and has made people around the world sit up and pay attention.

‘1-DISTRICT-1-FACTORY’ POLICY’

This industrialisation policy is the flagship of Akufo-Addo’s administration (and was the strength of his campaign) and one whose fruition depends upon the private sector. Within only 100 days of office the administration had provided a strategy to this policy and there have already been meetings with primary stakeholders from South Africa, India, China, Britain and Turkey. In Beijing on June 21 this year the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) was signed for a funding facility worth $2 billion from Chinese government’s private sector development corporation.

The idea behind this scheme is to build (at least) one factory in each of Ghana’s 216 districts establishing, as President Akufo-Addo states, “at least one major industrial project, based on the natural endowment of economic potential of each district.”

According to Vice President Bawumia it is about injecting value to Ghana’s very rich and vast raw materials (Cacao, Cashew Nuts, Tomatoes, Coffee, Cassava, Maize, Cotton, Fruits, Groundnuts and Rice, to name a few) by processing them on the very land where they grow. He affirms that “the potential for value addition is one which emphasizes the participation of the private sector.” This programme alone is expected to create between 7000 to 15000 jobs per district by 2020. It will reduce importation and increase food availability while using local resources in order to manufacture or process products that are in demand both locally and around the world. This will allow the whole of Ghana to profit from economic growth, encourage development across Ghana and stabilise the cedis but it will also, undoubtedly, provide investors with intriguing and profitable opportunities.

These are exciting times indeed for Ghana as the country takes their destiny into their own hands, flinging open the door to the local and foreign private sector, and opening themselves up to possibility and potential in a stable, reliable and optimistic environment; embracing their bright future and fixing their rising star firmly high up into the heavens where only the sky is the limit.

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