Why the National Economic Forum was a wasted opportunity

Personally speaking, the recent so-called National Economic Forum was a complete waste of time for two main reasons. The first being that if our leaders were serious, they would appreciate that we already have an economic plan in the guise of our first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and his 7 year economic development plan.

This economic plan although initiated and delivered, partly, in the 1960's is still relevant today and it is something we will come back to.

The second reason why the recent economic forum was a waste of time was because of what was not addressed at the forum and this is the critical issue of ownership of the economy in particular the natural resources of Ghana.

This omission was key failure of those who organized and attended the said conference and again we will explain in some depth why this was a missed opportunity.

Now, let's go back to the first of issues regarding the whole essence of having an economic forum. The catalyst behind this forum was to address the dire economic situation the country finds itself in - and this should say something - if we were smart we would acknowledge and appreciate that the reason Ghana is in economic difficulties is not as simplistic as saying there is a financial crisis in the western world - in fact Ghana's economy has been in terminal decline since the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in 1966 and let us not forget that it was western governments' and their agencies that sabotaged Ghana's economy leading up to the coup of 1966.

Indeed since 1966, Ghana's economy has steadily retrogressed and this is primarily as a result following the economic medicine as prescribed by the IMF/World Bank that had made Ghana's economy terminally sick.

Understanding the colonial agenda of the Bretton-Woods institutions, Ghana's first president wanted to lift the economy of Ghana from a colonial economy into a liberated one and this is why he embarked on the 7 year development plan to radically change the economic fortunes of the country.

This plan was developed as a result of conducting a feasibility study of the needs and wants of the country and to put in place strategies to meet those needs and wants.

At the core of that 7 year development was;
Agriculture
Industrial Development
Housing
Education
These are key areas as well as healthcare for national development and the current government and future governments must use this as a model/template for our development.

For example Ghana being the country that it is agriculture MUST play a central role in our economic development. Studies show that there is enough fertile land in Northern Ghana (Northern Region, Upper East, Upper West) alone to feed the whole of the West Africa sub region.

Given this briefly the government in a public/private initiative with our financial institutions MUST invest wholesale in the agricultural industry in ALL its facets (Fishing, Diary, Rice, Poultry, Cocoa) and one great way to achieve this is to subsidies ALL Ghanaian farmers to achieve the design of food security AND having enough food to export rather than the crazy practice of importing everything we eat.

The next thing that is key to our going forward as a nation is industrial development. Dr Kwame Nkrumah knew this and this is why he made industrialization of the Ghanaian economy a central part of the economic development plan. This enabled him to build more than 500 state owned factories that met ALL the needs of the Ghanaian such as a TV and radio factory (Akasanoma), a sugar factory, a shoe factory, dairy farms, rice farms, a gold factory near completion at Tarkwa, tomato factory at Wenchi, the GIHOC holdings, Ghana Airways Corporation and many others.

These industries created numerous jobs that gave value people and development skills to Ghanaians and more importantly created revenue for government that stayed in the country (no capital flight) that was used for social developmental programmes.

Again so using Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's seven year economic development plan, manufacturing MUST be a key component of it, because at this stage in our development and looking at it from a broad base WE MUST be producing things for both domestic use and export on the international rather than importing things.

Ghana CANNOT develop by importing things, the only way that Ghana can move forward is to manufacture things and a key component of future economic policy of future governments MUST be to build factories and/or rehabilitate most of the 500 industries that were built by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as these industries are needed now more than ever.

Again as part of this economic development plan, future governments must pay serious attention to the housing crisis that is facing the nation. In a recent report by a body, it stated that current house prices in Ghana are far from the reach of the ordinary citizen with an average 2 bed roomed house going for US$60,000. Added to this is the reportedly 1.5 million housing units' deficit.

Given this there should be a robust commitment by government as part of a national economic plan to address this housing deficit by having a strategic housing building policy which will build XXXXXX houses a year with the view to introducing schemes like a rent to buy scheme that would enable ordinary Ghanaians to get on the housing ladder. Having a roof over ones head is a right not a privilege.

As far as education is concerned, as part of a national economic plan, there needs to be a wholesale change in the system and curriculum giving more emphasis to the social, economic, political and technological needs of the country which will inform the type of education system that needs to be implemented in Ghana.

Now the next and perhaps most important aspect of this feature. The fundamental omission of the ownership of the economy was a grave mistake by the organizers of the event because they missed an opportunity to address a fundamental reason why the economy of Ghana is in dire straits.

Presently speaking, the economy of Ghana is NOT owned and controlled by indigenous Ghanaians contrary to what they believe. If one examines the key facets of Ghana's economy be it the banking/financial sector, the mining sector, the oil sector, the retail sector, the agricultural sector and our modest manufacturing sector, one would identify that these key sectors are ALL owned and controlled by foreigners (i.e. non-Blacks).

Added to this the key natural resources of the country such as gold, diamonds, timber, oil and to an extent cocoa are again ALL owned and controlled by non-Blacks. Two examples that buttress the point are as follows: Firstly Ghana gets only 3% royalty from gold production and under the mining stability Act 2006, foreign, mainly western mining companies are allowed to ship more than 90% of their vast profits outside Ghana.

Secondly in terms of our crude oil, Ghana only gets 12% of the profits indicating that we have no ownership and control over our supposed natural resources.

However in days of yore under the leadership of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and General Kutu Acheampong, Ghana was getting more

It is absolutely scandalous that Ghana DOES NOT control or own its own God given natural resources and thus the economic empowerment that comes with it - rather it is the hewer of wood and drawer of water for others.

The ownership and control ones resources is an essential element in the nation building process because it enables self determination and allows one do to pursue a developmental agenda of its own making rather than being dictated to.

Given this if any government of Ghana is serious about economic development then it MUST as a matter of urgency take active steps to take a major shareholding in our natural resources be it gold, oil or diamonds.

Finally any government that is serious about economic development and uplifting the country from the abyss that it is in, MUST implement an economic development plan similar to the seven economic development plan of DR. Kwame Nkrumah.

After more than 40 years of economic medicine prescribed by the IMF/World Bank that has made Ghana terminally sick, the time has definitely come for Ghana to prescribe its own economic medicine and charter its own economic destiny.