| Interview
conducted by Mr. Jeroen Splinter (International Correspondent)
Ghana, 17 September, 2003
On
January 7, 2001 you took office as the new President of Ghana
and also entered the history books as the first democratically
elected government to succeed another in more than 40 years
of the country's history. Could you indicate the importance
of this feat for Ghana and Africa?
Everybody
talks about images of Africa. So far, these have not been
good. The world is opening up into a global village and a
global market. Whether we like it or not, politics and the
economic well-being must go hand in hand to develop the people.
For that to happen, the world must know that our country has
gone into a democratic era, where the rule of law is the underpinning
of all development. Investors can bring their money here,
feel safe, do business and trade, and make their profits.
They should feel free to come.
The people
in Ghana too, must really feel free and must feel that democracy
is working for them. We believe that the free man is the best
agent for production. Also, we need to feel that the country
is ours. You cannot feel this without democracy. Therefore,
this transition is enabling and empowering us to put the past,
that has been very questionable, behind us; so that we can
get on with our lives and feel a part of world and going to
the mainstream of globalisation.
So, democracy
is critical. We believe it is the sine quo non for proper
development economically, socially, and individually, as human
beings. It is also the way to gain the self-respect and confidence
that we need to interact with the rest of the world.
You
are seeking to position Ghana as the Gateway to the West African
sub-region and indeed to Africa as a whole. A Golden Age of
Business has been announced. When you structured this vision,
what were the prerequisites you had in mind for Ghana to become
this Gateway?
When we
talk about the Gateway, we are not only talking about the
economy. There are a whole lot of other things as well. For
example, Ghana was the first country in West Africa which
gained independence from colonialism in 1957. The then first
president of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, made a Mecca of Ghana
for all the freedom-fighters, not only from the West African
sub-region, but for the entire continent. From South Africa
and East Africa, everybody came here to get inspired and sometimes
even to get material resources to bring back home to fight
for freedom. In that sense, we were a Gateway.
Now, we
have moved away from those times. Africa is independent now,
however politically. Now, we want to add economic independence,
and therefore the economic Gateway is also critical. When
you look at West Africa, except for Nigeria, which is a giant
unto itself, we are not benefiting from economies of scale.
We want to interact with international finance and we want
to attract Foreign Direct Investment. But, who will build
a plant here in a small market? Ghana in size is quite big
for West Africa with a population of 20 million, but most
West African countries are not bigger than 4-5 million. So,
how do we attract foreign investors to small markets like
that unless we open up customs-wise to each other and form
customs unions, and become a common market. This would make
of us a market of over 250 million people in West Africa.
It is this idea of a common market which gives meaning to
Ghana as the Gateway, which would then be the hub for all
activity, e.g. telecommunications, infrastructure, education,
health, and of course with that the real market of finance.
We are
trying to achieve this first by developing our infrastructure
to give easy access to our business people and also foreign
investors so that they can come and connect easily with all
the economies of the sub region and indeed also outside the
continent. It is critical. We have to make the roads, make
the airports, rail lines, electricity, telecommunications,
everything. With this we expect the service industries will
also be coming. Locating a factory or production plant here
would be very attractive for anyone who is looking at Africa.
This way we will develop our economy, like Singapore.
You
have often indicated the importance of Public-Private Partnerships.
Which role do you foresee these partnerships to play in your
vision for Ghana?
It is
indeed of great importance as well. We have appointed for
the first time in our history a Minister for Private Sector
Development, because we believe that is the main agency to
use to give incentive to the private sector and for domestic
and international entrepreneurs to come. The government is
there to enable the private sector lead in the economic development.
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(continues)
In
your first news conference as president of Ghana, you called
for cooperation, for Ghanaians to "work together ...
as one people, one nation and one destiny." How would
you like to see this develop into the future?
It is
not a long term goal, because already we are a nation. When
you look at Africa and the African countries, a lot of the
boundaries and borders were fixed by their colonial masters
without regard for the people and tribes and their borders.
Post-independence, this has created a lot of strife. A lot
of the warfare can be traced back to these artificial boundaries,
which in many instances divide tribes and a whole lot of things.
But, in
the case of Ghana, we have already moved beyond this stage
where tribes did not understand each other. We do understand
each other. Fortunately, even in the colonial times, boarding
schools were set up that brought together youth from several
tribes. And so, as of now, we coexist so beautifully in Ghana.
In general, people are peaceful, law abiding and they feel
as one as nationalists. That has been tremendous.
But, unfortunately,
there have been interruptions. The military has been testing
their patience. Our self-confidence as a nation and as a people
has been subverted seriously and people have become cynical.
We are now trying to get back onto the road of democratisation
and purpose. It is like we have to relearn our way back into
a nation with a common vision for development. In the past,
we flirted with ideologies, such as leftism, that were ill
understood. We are trying to put everything back in order
now and look at democracy with respect of human rights, individual
initiatives, property rights, respect for profits, and those
things. Our idea is to refocus the peoples’ attention
to these right ideas.
I encourage
the economic creators to move our economy to the benefit of
all. We want good schools, health, delivery systems and employment
for youth. This will all come through and give returns to
the economy.
The
eBizguide on Ghana aims to reach both Ghanaian as well as
the international businessman. What would be your final message
to them?
This is
the best place to do business on the continent of Africa.
The people are good; they learn fast, they are law abiding,
well behaved and reasonable. I believe it is critical for
investors to have a working force with such a psychological
outlook. You will get people who are reasonable, disciplined
and who will learn fast. You will introduce new technology
and they will master it quickly and become productive for
you. Of course, they will expect you to treat them fairly.
If you treat a Ghanaian fairly then you can expect good productivity
from the working force.
Our nation
is naturally rich. The resources and raw materials are for
the investors to come and see and invest in those areas in
which we have a competitive edge. They can use Ghana as the
platform to produce for the international market. Ghana is
very close to all the important markets and I am not immediately
talking about West Africa. From Accra to London is just 6
hours and to the continent of Europe it is the same. To America
it is about 7-8 hours. The world is getting much smaller.
And so,
if you compare Ghana with a base in Asia or America, you can
see that we are at the cross roads for action. There is a
conducive atmosphere of law and order, good working force,
we are quickly developing our telecommunications, and all
the major airlines from Europe are flying daily here. For
example, KLM and British Airways fly here every day of the
week. And so it is very easy to move to and from Ghana. Then,
we are also trying to quickly develop the service industry
with the hotels sprouting and we are coming to terms with
the need for a good environment. And, finally, we are feverishly
working on our infrastructure and if you are from the English
speaking world, then Ghana is perfect.
So, everything
is here. What more do you want? Of course, there is also the
cost of production which is very manageable, so the rate of
return on investment is perhaps the highest. I have said it
before and I want to repeat: ‘You make more on your
investment here in Ghana than you can in Britain or France
or Germany or the United States or anywhere.’ You can
make it here. And, we are very peaceful too.
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