Former Finance Minister urges gov't to award state contracts to locals

Kwesi Botchwey

Former Finance Minister Dr Kwesi Botchwey has said that there should be a deliberate attempt to use of local expertise instead of foreign ones.

There has been a lot of debate about the capacity of Ghanaians to execute contracts especially those requiring highly skilled and technical labour.

But Mr Botchwey, who is also Board Chairman of the Ghana National Gas Company, says there are many skilled and competent Ghanaians in and out of the country who must be given the opportunity to executive local contracts.

“…Very often in Africa we say we don't have the capacity. It is important as a country that we exhaust our own national capacity before we go seeking additional capacity elsewhere.

“Where is the capacity? Can we mobilize it to start?" He asked.

"So we must learn to use our national capacity before we fall on others...”