Ghana needs an enterprise economy with African characteristics, not copying others

The Leader and Founder of the United Party (UP), Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, has called for an enterprise-based economic model tailored to Ghana’s economic structure and broader African realities.

He said Ghana could not simply replicate the economic systems of countries such as China, the United States or Scandinavian nations because of fundamental differences in the structure of their economies.

Speaking at an economic lecture organised by the Centre for Strategic African Development in Accra on Wednesday, September 23, Alan Kyerematen said Ghana needed to determine the type of enterprise economy capable of driving its transformation.

He said his proposed enterprise economy is intended to provide an enterprise model that reflected the continent’s peculiar economic circumstances.

“Enterprise economy is an enterprise economy with African characteristics. It means that we cannot go and copy China, nor the United States, nor the Scandinavian economies, because the structure of our economy is different,” he said.

The former presidential candidate said successful economies around the world had different forms of enterprise economies, shaped by their respective national circumstances.

He cited China as an example of a state-led enterprise economy and also described the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and other European economies as operating largely free-market enterprise systems.

He also pointed to Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Denmark as examples of enterprise economies with a welfare orientation, while describing Japan, South Korea, India and countries in Southeast Asia as having mixed enterprise economies combining elements of state leadership and free-market activity.

According to him, Ghana's economic structure requires a model that takes account of the country's high level of informality and continued dependence on raw commodity exports.

“We have a 95% informality, so how can you compare yourself with the United States? We are still depending on raw commodities, so you cannot compare yourself to other enterprise economies,” he said.

Alan Kyerematen therefore argued that the central question for Ghana should be what form of enterprise economy would best suit its circumstances.

“If we want to transform using the kimonic model, then we need an enterprise economy with African characteristics,” he added.