President Akufo-Addo believes he has the most ambitious programme ever in the history of the 4th Republic, if not the entire history of Ghana.
Even though his government is barely five months in office, he said, “We are taking concrete action to fulfil our manifesto pledges and commitments.”
He disclosed this when the executives of the International Democratic Union (IDU) called on him at the Presidency yesterday, where he hosted them to a lunch.
For him, the war to build a better world by strengthening freedom and democracy and improving the living standards of the citizenry is far from over.
It is for this reason he added that “the Ghanaian people, dissatisfied with their living conditions, and unhappy with the direction in which the country and, indeed, the economy was headed, voted decisively for change on 7th December, 2016, by the overwhelming victory they conferred on the NPP and my modest person.”
To deliver on the wishes and aspirations of the Ghanaian people, he indicated that “I have put before them the most ambitious programme of social and economic transformation of any government in the history of Ghana’s 4th Republic, if not in our entire history.”
“This programme is hinged on restructuring the institutions of our governance, modernising our agriculture to enhance its productivity, a clear industrial policy, and rationalising the financial sector so that it supports growth in agriculture, and growth in manufacturing and industry,” he said.
Basis
President Akufo-Addo believes his government has in its first budget in March this year introduced measures to stimulate the private sector.
He talked of a monetary policy that would stabilise the currency and reduce significantly the cost of borrowing, in addition to a raft of tax cuts, has been put in place to bring relief to and encourage businesses.
These interventions, he said, “Are already lowering the cost of doing business, and shifting the focus of our economy from taxation to production.”
“We aim also to enhance further the business atmosphere and make Ghana an easier place to conduct business through paperless transactions at our ports, and the removal of all internal customs barriers by the beginning of September,” he mentioned.
The president also talked of his government’s flagship programmes, ‘one district, one factory’, and ‘planting for food and jobs’ which are aimed at making Ghana’s economy the most business-friendly on not only the continent of Africa but the entire world.
For him, “This process of economic and industrial transformation is going along with ensuring that the most basic elements of social justice are met – making quality basic education and healthcare accessible to all – to promote a culture of incentives and opportunities.”
He, therefore, stated, “We are determined to build a new Ghanaian civilisation, a Ghana beyond aid. It is a Ghana where we aim to be masters of our own destiny, where we marshal our own resources for the future, breaking the shackles of the ‘Guggisberg’ colonial economy of a producer of raw materials, and a mind-set of dependency, bailouts and extraction.”
“It is an economy where we look past commodities to position ourselves in the global market place at the high end of the value chain. It is a country where we focus on trade, not aid, a hand-up, not a hand-out. It is a country with a strong private sector. It is a country that recognises the connectedness of its people and economy to those of its neighbours. It is a country that is governed according to the rule of law, respect for individual liberties and human rights, and the principles of democratic accountability,” he emphasised.
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