CREATING JOBS TO BETTER THE ECONOMY OF INDIVIDUAL GHANAIANS

As the nation goes forward to develop its oil sector and other notable industries to give the nation a boost of its export industry, certain other minor industries that have been neglected could be embarked upon to give the ordinary Ghanaians jobs in order to better their economic situations. I would therefore like to mention four areas that I think the government could help initiate developments which will guarantee a segment of the population jobs and decent lives. These areas are: The Kente Industry; The aluminium and bauxite industries; Stones and quarry industries; and finally the farming industries, specifically the dairy products industries and other cash crops.

THE KENTE INDUSTRY
The kente industry which has not been given a major boost since its inception should be considered important now to any government that comes to power. There should be attempt to utilise modern machines to help the local weavers to produce cloths on a large scale. The three cities where factories could be built in order to help produce kente cloths on a large scale should be in Kumasi in the Ashanti Religion, Kibi in the Eastern Region, and the Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region. Three factories should be established in these three cities whereby all the kente industries could put together to produce large scale both for home consumption and for export. Apart from these initial production the kente cloth should have a secondly industry where those already made cloths could be sawn to produce jackets and heavy cloths for the cold climates in the European countries and North America. We may be targeting the Africans living in these areas, but I personally have seen that there are many Europeans that find these kente cloths very nice and durable so I think the market will not be restricted to the African customers alone but also other natives in abroad. The shirts and jackets making factories should be placed in these three areas in the countries: Accra, Ho, and Secondi where they can then be packed nicely and be exported. Both young men and women with sewing experience that have been educated in our vocational schools could be employed. I think if the government initially starts with private persons and later sell them back to them it would be a good idea and would receive a major boost for the export industry. If planned well, these industries together will employ over 25 000 workers and when one adds the shift personnel, then a total of 50 000 workers may be employed in these industry alone excluding those cotton growers in the local producing regions. Some of the raw cotton can also be exported.

ALUMINIUM AND BAUXITE INDUSTRY
We are more concerned with exports and also home consumption of certain products that we believe we can make our mark. It is true that we are interested in exporting these aluminium products in raw form but the government should consider establishing a smelting industry here in Ghana so that we can on our own manufacture certain things such as bicycles, cooking pots, containers for packaging things for export. I know that we think about the fact that we get these things cheap from the Far East, but I believe with a little boldness we can make some of these things here and then export to other African countries. Bicycles are needed everywhere in Africa and this could be something we can begin with not only assembling them here but also to ship certain parts to different countries where negotiation can be reached that would allow us to specialise on making specific parts for them. Spoons and utensils are not only needed for export but also even here the domestic need is so high that we ought to engage in its production ourselves and export to other African countries. We can count more than 50 000 workers in the industries, that is, excluding those working direct with its excavation from the different sites in the country.

STONES AND QUARRY INDUSTRIES
The quarry industries in Ghana are primitive and as at now still depend on primitive tools to work with. It is high time the government spent money to acquire certain machines from Sweden, Germany, and also China to help expand these industries. We need stones for building pavements of our public buildings and private homes. We also need stones that have been treated properly with certain machines from the above-mentioned countries to be used in the grave yards. Moreover, some of these stones are employed as foundations for certain strong houses that are built abroad and therefore we need these stones not only for domestic purposes but also for export. These stones are used in Sweden and German for making nice pavements and roads inside the cities (to prevent mud in the cities and urban areas) and can be very durable. These industries, when the government pump a little money in, the benefits will be very substantial and I believe they could provide at least more than 30 000 employees alone in these industries, excluding those who may be working at the excavation sites. As I have mentioned already, if we need to find more about these industries we can learn from the Germans and the Swedes, who have big industries concerning these areas. There are large deposits of stones in the Eastern Region, especially Begoro.

DAIRY PRODUCTS AND FARMING
The large scale farming I intend to suggest here is very important not only because it will fetch money that we shall have, but also the good food for a healthy diet for our children and future children. These large scale farming are supposed to take place both in the north and certain parts of southern Ghana. It is special because the government is supposed to help with initial capital and then it could sell them back to private individuals who will commence these farming.

I believe first of all the government should employ 100 farmers for a period mostly from these countries Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and probably China. They could be share holders or owners but the initial capital should come from the government and later it can sell them to these people or those who would be trained under these experts who would initiate these programmes.

Fifty of these farmers are to concentrate on goats and sheep rearing in order to produce milk in the case of the goats and meat and wool in the case of both goats and sheep. These farmers would initially receive help from the government to initiate this program and also certain other help found important to give more support. The meat industry is to produce meat for home consumption and for export. Wool can be included which can be exported or be utilised to produce cloths for the colder countries and leather for domestic shoe factories to be set up later.

The rest of the fifty farmers are to specialise on cattle rearing which will produce fresh milk for our children and also other by-products such as leather for wallets and jackets for export. The importance of these projects is to guarantee diary products for our children something which no government has ever invested in it ever since we became independent. We shall also produce shoes at the shoe factories and other leather materials such as bags for export.

Apart from this large scale farming, the government should set up good marketing systems for those private individuals who could not produce in large scale so that their products can be marketed before export into other countries. Processing should be done in this country.

COFFEE, COTTON AND TEA
These crops need to be grown in large scale and we do not have to export. We can have industries that we can process the coffee here, shirts factories to make shirts for export to many African countries, and process tea to be exported to other countries. Because we have never had stable governments all these things have not been given a proper thought. Once we have moved these two institutions away from the capital city (Armed Force and Police Headquarters) politicians would get the freedom and peace to plan well for this country.

Industries from these three areas if properly planned could make us one of the richest countries in the world.

I shall come later with technical products that I believe we can work on. But in the interim, it can be asserted that the farming industry and minerals known as the Primary Sector should be commenced as soon as possible because we need this to be able to support the greater majority that will be going to the industry and manufacturing sector otherwise known as the Secondary Sector and service sector otherwise known as Tertiary Sector.

By Desmond Ayim-Aboagye