Let Us Make The Ghana Beyond Aid A Prosperous Society That Is A Share-Owning Democracy

There is no question that most Ghanaians have an appetite for earned income from sundry investment schemes. Unfortunately, over the years, that aspirational Ghanaian characteristic has driven many into the arms of various con-artists, who have duped the unwary and innocent-abroad, out of hard-earned cash running into zillions of hard-to-find cedis.

The question is: Why does President Akufo-Addo not tap into that yearning for investment income amongst ordinary Ghanaians, by starting an initiative to make the Ghana beyond aid, a prosperous society, which is also a share-owning democracy?

Could that noble societal objective, not be kick-started, by floating the government's 30% stake in Vodafone - enabling our country to cork a snook at Vodafone's sly and greedy executives: who are dead set against listing that opaque company on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE)? Haaba.

With the shinning example of the Ghana Oil Company (GOIL), to guide us, all state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that have the potential to pay regular dividends to shareholders, if privatised, ought to be floated on the GSE- so that ordinary people in this marvellous country of ours (not "...a powerful few with greedy ambitions", to paraphrase President Nkrumah' apt description of our vampire-elites), can acquire shares in them too. Cool.

Potentially viable SOEs, such as the Ghana Airports Company; GIHOC Distilleries; Gridco; VRA; Bui Dam Authority; etc., etc., can all fare better as listed companies on the GSE - with the not-to-be-sneezed-at added bonus of the state successfully raising interest-free cash to help modernise them, gained on top of that too. Let us make the Ghana beyond aid a prosperous society that is a share-owning democracy.