The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Hanna Tetteh is asking Ghana to move beyond over-reliance on external aid to self-reliance.
She says that the country will need to focus on self-investment in order to wean itself off aid.
“Ghana needs to move away from dependence to self-reliance and self-investment,” the former Minister of Foreign Affairs said Speaking in an exclusive interview with Johnnie Hughes on the Sunrise show on 3FM on Friday, February 7.
Recently, the World Bank in a report titled “Ghana – Towards efficient self-reliance: the role of manufacturing,” called for policy measures to focus on investment as part of efforts to ensure self-sufficiency.
The report noted that manufacturing appeared to have been one of the most healthy and dynamic sectors in Ghana. However, under close scrutiny, several deficiencies emerged in the sector.
The deficiencies include low value added at international prices; small foreign exchange savings; few domestic linkage; few jobs created; unbalanced regional development; negligible export promotion; low levels of efficiency in the public sector; inadequate repair and maintenance capacity; and small-scale industry neglect.
The Bretton Wood Institution said that some measures to rectify this situation have been taken, but they should be complemented by further policy measures if the role of the industrial sector within the broad strategy chosen by Ghana, efficient self-reliance, is to be enhanced.
Specific policy recommendations are made in the areas of natural resources and material supplies to industry, foreign exchange, capital constraints, and manpower. Several institutional proposals are also made.
The most promising investment opportunities seem to be in rice cultivation and processing, livestock production, sugar growing and refining, palm oil cultivation and milling, pulp and paper, conversion of bauxite into aluminium, clay bricks, and engineering workshops for machinery repair.
Excerpts of our conversation with Hanna Tetteh, Special Rep to UN Secretary-General & Head of UNSMIL on #3FMSunrise.
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