Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta
Dr Sam Ankrah, an economist has indicated that government’s revitalization initiative; Ghana CARES Obaatanpa will only be successful if it is devoid of political interference.
According to him, the ambitious job creation initiative is a potential game changer but will only yield sustainable jobs if the right institutions will be engaged in the regulation, roll out of policies and funds disbursement.
Speaking at an induction ceremony as a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Economists-Ghana, Dr Sam Ankrah said, “This is no doubt an ambitious programme, however, it is a great initiative which needs to be supported and pray for it to succeed. But I trust that its success will be hinged on finding the right bodies to regulate and disburse the funds.”
“We will be doing ourselves a disservice if we continue to use what I call the ‘political institutions’ such as the MASLOC, venture capital and its likes to disburse these funds,” Ankrah is quoted to have said by the B&FT newspaper.
The economist however recommended that fund disbursement under the Ghana CARES Obaatanpa programme should be modelled under Ghana Enterprises Agency.
The Ghana CARES (Obaatanpa) programme is an ambitious GH¢100 billion initiative by government to stabilize, revitalize and transform Ghana’s economy in a post COVID-19 era to create jobs and prosperity for Ghanaians over a three-year period.
The initiative is sequenced in two phases namely; a Stabilization Phase that runs from July to the end of the year (2020); and a medium-term Revitalization Phase from 2021-2023.