NDC and NPP must use the money they waste during elections to set up businesses to employ Ghanaians

Unemployment in Ghana remains a national crisis and a major threat to the country's long term security, peace, stability and development. Every 4 years, political parties in the country particularly the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) spend tens of millions of dollars if not more, trying to win power after which they would go begging foreign governments, individuals and companies to come and invest in the country.

We are of the opinion that rather than waste hundreds of millions of cedis on political campaigning only to win power and start begging foreign investors to come and invest (who by the way will not come), the NDC and the NPP should save that money and use it to invest in agriculture, textiles, pharmaceuticals, energy, automobiles, telecommunication, real eastate and other industries to generate employment for the youth. This is not a bad suggestion. In fact, it is being practised in several African countries notably Rwanda and Ethiopia. In Rwanda for instance, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) has set up several businesses including the conglomerate called Crystal Ventures formerly Tri-Star. The initial funding for the company’s investment portfolio came from supporters of the party living abroad as well as from left-over funds from 1994 civil war. Since it was established more than 20 years ago, Crystal Ventures has grown to become the largest private employer in Rwanda.

According to The Economist (2017) “Crystal Ventures, the RPF’s holding company, has investments in everything from furniture to finance. It owns the country’s biggest milk processor, its finest coffee shops and some of its priciest real estate. Its contractors are building Kigali’s roads. There are several firms offering security services in Rwanda but the guards from ISCO, part of Crystal Ventures, are the only ones who tote guns. The company is reckoned to have some $500m of assets…Telecommunications was an early success. In 1998, Tri-Star [now Crystal Ventures] partnered with MTN, a South African multinational, to establish a mobile-phone network at a time when few saw viable prospects in Rwanda. The company later listed its 20% holding in MTN-Rwanda.”

In Ethiopia the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, has investment holdings in manufacturing, services, merchandise, construction, mining, agro-processing and other industries providing jobs for the population and setting the pace for others to follow. Indeed, the party's endowment fund called Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) has since 1987 been establishing businesses and at one point wanted to enter into partnership with Ghana's Ashanti Gold. According to Seeye Abraha, a former CEO of EFFORT, "Feasibility studies were done for a marble factory, a gold mine (in joint venture with Ghana's Ashanti Gold), and construction firms." According to the party, businesses owned by EFFORT "have been organised into 14 different companies. The investment wing was given the mandate to manage and control the investment companies in which EFFORT Investment Center is a major shareholder."

According to researchers at Oxford University "In Ethiopia, the TPLF dominated coalition of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front works through four large endowment conglomerates – each focusing on a particular region, following Ethiopia’s federal system – to centralise rents and help steer economic policy. Endowment conglomerates, and particularly the TPLF’s flagship EFFORT which operates in Tigray, employ thousands of people, are key providers of public goods and promote the overall developmentalist strategy of Meles Zenawi through leading by example.52They are not the only instruments the regime has at its disposal to maintain dazzling economic success – gross national income went from US$120 per capita in 2002 to US$390 in 201053 – and deliver public services to the masses: state-owned enterprises and domination of the financial sector, as well as extensive opportunities for local patronage through powerful regional development organisations, all operate autonomously, but work towards both the implicit and explicit goals of the Growth and Transformation Plan."

Profits accruing from the business operations can be used to establish more companies or re-invested in existing ones to expand them. Profits can also be used to support candidates during elections which will help to reduce their dependence on individual contributions and corrupt deals. At the same time the unemployed youth, who frequently fight to manage few toilet facilities in the country, could secure jobs while the parties themselves provide critical services to the country through their business activities.

NPP Inc and NDC Inc definitely not a bad idea!
Notes
Jones, W., Soares de Oliveira, R., Verhoeven, H., (2013) 'Africa’s illiberal state-builders' Working Paper Series 89

The Economist (2017) ‘Party of business:The Rwandan Patriotic Front’s business empire Crystal Ventures has investments in everything from furniture to finance https://www.economist.com/news/business/21718000-crystal-ventures-has-investments-everything-furniture-finance-rwandan-patriotic

By Lord Adusei