Could you give us a brief overview of your career path?
Basically, I was a Member of Parliament [MP] and the Spokesman for Finance, what we call Shadow Minister for Finance. I led the opposition in matters of finance, preparing an alternative budget, stating the government position on the economy and all related areas, very much involved in the writing of the manifesto of our party. I think most people expected that after that I was going to be Minister of Finance. There was a change so I swapped with the shadow Minister of Finance who used to be the spokesperson for trade and industry.
I have been actively involved in defining, formulating, articulating our economic policy. So with my training and background I feel very versatile to be able to do the work of a trade and industry Minister. I had an extensive experience in the economic area, both in teaching economics and in working areas related to fashioning economic policies. I have extensive contacts with international organizations so I feel I can provide the link between our country and the rest of the world in the area of trade and investment. I feel I can make a contribution.
What are your main objectives and ambitions while in office?
I think in our country we talk a lot about the private sector being the engine of growth. It has almost become a clich,. You say it but you do not do anything to bring it about. Our commitment is not just because we believe in the private sector but we believe it is a facilitator. It is the mechanism that will allow us to accomplish our economic goals, to bring prosperity to our people, to improve the living conditions of our people and to link our country to the rest of the world. We do not want to be left behind by globalization or technology. We want to go with the world and that means that we ought to be able to create the opportunity for our people to work in our country, we ought to be able to produce goods and services that are competitive in a global environment that we can go out there and sell and generate the revenue that we need to develop our country. We want to become the real gateway to the rest of West Africa. Not just a clich, but in real terms by providing the port facilities, the air links and the financial infrastructure that allows Ghana not just to become the gateway but the final destination so that we will be the link to the rest of Africa. To do this means that we have to formulate and implement economic policies that are realistic, that will create the conducive atmosphere for businesses; that will build confidence in our leaders, and attract foreign investments. I am not saying that the former government did not do that, but the kind of macro economic environment that we find in our country now made it very difficult, one, for our firms to be competitive and two, to attract foreign investment. Our main job now is to stabilize the economy, to reduce the pressure on our currency, to bring down inflationary pressures in general. This is the stabilization phase of our work and the budget that we have put in place is designed to stabilize our economy. Once this is done our economy will become the most attractive in the sub-region.
On which specific economic policies and areas will the Ministry concentrate in the next few months?
In the next few months, the major target is reducing the deficit. We have committed ourselves to bringing down the budget deficit. Currently the rate is about 8.5% of GDP. Our target that was set by the previous government is that by this year we would have had a balance budget but unfortunately they were not able to achieve that.
We are committed to reducing the rate of growth of the deficit. We are cutting down expenditures by 40%, at last years level but that is not enough for us to really balance the budget. So we want to pursue prudent monetary policy and disciplined monitoring of government expenditures, a work to reduce opportunities for corruption so that government revenue generates the benefits that we desire. This is our commitment as shown by our president for zero tolerance of corruption.
According to our surveys ½70billion have been allocated to the Ministry of Trade and Industries for its activities. Has this been approved by the parliament?
Yes, it was approved and in fact not only was my estimates approved, the overall appropriation bill for the entire government machinery was approved. So we do have the resources and we intend to carry out our programs and policies with our resources this year.
Are you satisfied with these resources?
Absolutely not. But being in the position that I am I can understand it. No, it does not meet half of our expectation. We had projected ½154billion that we felt could have given us the opportunity to do the things that we needed to do. Unfortunately, we were not able to get that. We got about half of it, and it is due to the reality on the ground. We are trying to do the very best with what we have.
What programs do you plan on cutting back due to this budget limitation?
We cut back on programs that I feel are very dear
to me. For one thing we have only 3 commercial missions
abroad, what we call trade attaches for our embassies.
I thought we should have been able to increase it
by about 10 this year and continue to build upon
it. But it turns out that we could not finance it.
When you talk about global trade and competition
you need to have your people out there sourcing
the market for you. |
If you talk about attracting investment you need to have your people in the field where the investments are. I also wanted a lot more allocation for a unit within our ministry called the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI). It is the practical outreach arm of this ministry. It is the one that helps the small and medium scale enterprises to identify markets, to write proposals, to source out plans, to market their products and to educate them on how to manage their accounts. Unfortunately, we have had to cut back on their budget because there was not enough to go round.
One of the Ministry's objectives is to enhance the relationship with the States within the context of African Growth and Opportunities Act as well as the Private Investment. Which areas are you going to concentrate on?
The AGOA provides a unique opportunity for our country to increase what we call the non-traditional exports, and in this instance the emphasis is on the textile, garment and fabric industry. This is a place where we can do well and be competitive.
The African fabric is very unique and the Ghanaian one in particular is admired a lot.
The AGOA facility gives us a little bit of a competitive edge. I am in discussion to appoint a person that I will call AGOA coordinator. His whole job will be to coordinate our efforts at identifying textile producers, helping them source for resources and identifying the market and helping them export. The trade investment program that we have with the US is to help us facilitate our understanding of WTO agreements, to help us with technical assistance so that our people will understand the issues involved, will help our firms to become more competitive and to provide a link to the American market. I would want to introduce a link between this program and AGOA so that our trade investment program facilitates our programs of getting our products into the American market. I have someone for the position of AGOA coordinator, and we are looking for funding for him. He has already written a proposal for that; we are talking to the Japanese with whom we have a trade facilitation program; we have another program with USAID and we are sending the application over to them to see if they can help us funding that particular program.
Apart from AGOA, what are your other plans to promote Ghana's exports?
We have the Ghana Export Promotion Council; we have established the Ghana Free Zones Board and these are very important to me. If we are successful in our Free Zones/Gateway program it will be our link to the rest of the world because we can have firms coming in, and producing for the export market.
At the moment projects like the Free Zones are centered in Tema. Do you have any plans to spread them to other parts of the country?
We want to do that. Our constitution requires that investments are spread all over the country. As at now, we are not doing that. I want to be able to provide the opportunity for investments to go all over the country. That will help us to stem the migration that is going on, and the poverty that is becoming characteristic of people living in our rural areas. As at now, we have identified Kumasi and Takoradi as parts of the Free Zones area. Any business that wants to operate in any part of the country and meets the requirements of 70% exports will also be given all the privileges and opportunities that come with the Free Zone program.
Apart from the US, what other countries are you targeting at?
As you know, the US is a very special case in respect of AGOA, but we also want to expand our export base and diversify. We are encouraging a lot of investment into cocoa processing and the response has been very good. Just this morning, there was a company that is practically committed to establishing a cocoa processing plant in Kumasi. We want to encourage the export of processed fish into the EU market and other countries. We want to export furniture, wood. I think we could also do well with our export of salt. We want to invest more into gold mining and move into gold processing. We want to expand into agro-processing, pineapples, tomatoes, vegetables, oranges and bananas.
How would you rate Ghana as an investment destination as to neighboring countries?
I think we have established ourselves as a stable country. We have been very vigorous in our pursuit of economic policies that will turn our economic situation around. We have a very good and disciplined workforce in our country. With all this put together I think we have an advantage over our neighbors and we must market this to all investors. |
