The policy direction and development concept of the NDC government with respect to the sugar industry in Ghana reveals that the government is oblivious to the mission and vision of the development needs of our country.
Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah the founder of our nation, who the NDC claim is their inspiration, clearly stated that the mission and vision of our country is socio-political development. He pointed out that “from now on we are no longer colonial people and Ghana your beloved country is free for ever”.
What he meant was that we now own our land won for us by the blood of our forebears (“Yen ara y’asaase ni… Mogya na nananom hwie di gu ho mayen…”) and are now free to develop its resources for the prosperity of our people and country. Our resources should no longer be exploited for the benefit of any foreign power and to our impoverishment.
The policy implication is that our nation and people should be given the opportunity to develop the resources of the country to earn incomes, make savings and develop capacity for capital formation for further investments for our children and our children’s children.
We wish to point out to the NDC government that consistent with our policy to create opportunities for the development of the private sector, the private sector in the sugar and allied industry in the country should be given the opportunity to own the proposed investment in the production of sugar and allied products in our country.
Future developments should include a float of shares of the investment on the Ghana Stock Exchange to give Ghanaians the opportunity to earn part of the profits of the investment. This will fulfill our development aspirations and responsibility to maintain our freedom from colonisation, to demonstrate that we have the capability and capacity to undertake our development agenda.
The capacity for development of the sugar and allied industry exists in this country and the private/public institutions in the sector should be given the opportunity to develop the productive resources of our country to earn profits from them, and develop their capacities for international partnership and competition.
The institutions that have this potential to grow include among others,
1. GIHOC Distillery Company Ltd
2. Kasapreko Industries Ltd
3. Agya Appiah Bitters Ltd
4. Bebeto Industries Ltd
5. Midland Ltd.
6. Barron Distilleries Ltd
These Ghanaian companies are the major blenders of alcoholic beverages in the country. The total import expenditure of Ghana for ethanol is in excess of $200 million per annum. Ghana and Liberia are the only countries in West Africa that produce 0% of their ethanol and sugar consumption.
The listed major importers are thus totally dependent on the import of ethanol, a by-product of sugar production. Their ownership of a domestic sugar production facility will eliminate the risk of their total dependence on imports of ethanol, exposure to exchange rate fluctuations and production distortions and bottlenecks.
The development of their capacity to include sugar and ethanol production will boost their incomes to contribute to government revenue and the growth of our economy.
The Youth of the Convention People’s Party hereby submit that a consortium of these companies and other interested parties should be formed to own the proposed investment. The loan contracted by the government should be lent to the consortium to finance the investment.
The financial advantages and benefits from this kind of structured investment for the nation’s economic development are obvious. The responsibility of the government of Ghana for loan repayment will be a contingent liability since the proposed consortium will directly bear the responsibility for repayment.
The Biotechnology Agricultural Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, (BINARI) has the capacity and capability for the micro propagation of the plants and should be engaged to develop and supply the seedlings and other inputs to the industry.
There also exists in Ghana, the Industrial Sugar Cane Growers Association (ISGA). This Association has a working relationship with the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF) and BINARI for planting sugar cane and should be involved in the organisation of the out-grower scheme to supply the raw sugar cane requirements of the project.
An investigation into the history of the sugar industry in Ghana would have informed the Ministry, and improved their capacity to brief and advise the government on the outcomes of local research for the production of sugar and allied products in Ghana.
The lapse is indicative of the lack of institutional memory in the use of local research and other data in the development of this project. It smacks of carelessness on the part of the Ministry given the fact that EDAIF is a policy implementation agency of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The responsibility of the Ministry in project planning and development of the sugar and allied industries in Ghana should be an achievable development objective that realises the potential and capacities of these institutions.
The other drawback and deficiency of the proposed investment is its failure to reckon with our national development vision to promote regional co-operation for an efficient development of the productive resources of the sub-region that will accelerate the economic growth and development of its component states.
Our founder, Kwame Nkrumah, envisioned and recommended that working in tandem with other African states is a necessary condition for our mutual development. He revealed that our development will be greatly facilitated and give meaning to freedom from colonialism if our country is linked to a free and independent Africa, able to develop the productive resources of the continent for all its citizens.
Viewed against the background that the constituent states of the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) produce a total of less than 10% of their total demand for sugar and allied products, this project is an example of what a viable investment can do to promote regional co-operation. It can contribute to the socio-economic development of the component states and should be given more in-depth consideration than has been done in the investment proposal of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the government of Ghana.
The strategic value of this investment to contribute to the reduction of our trade deficits, control of inflation and reduction of pressure on our exchange rate should not be eroded by the twin dangers of transfer pricing and profit repatriation that is inherent in foreign owned investments.
It is the view of the youth of the CPP that it is absurd and unconscionable to burden the good people of Ghana with repayment responsibility of a loan that is utilised by a foreign company to finance their investment.
It is doubtful whether the Ministry took advantage of the opportunity in the project’s concept phase to pursue the growth policy of valuation of rural assets in the land acquisition process to improve rural incomes.
We refer the Ministry in this respect, to the approach of the Peruvian economist Hernandez de Soto on the relationship between re-valuation of rural assets and economic growth in under-developed economies.
It is estimated that 8% of the GDP growth in Peru could be attributable to an adoption of Hernandez de Soto's development strategy of re-valuation of rural assets in rural resource development projects such as the development of the sugar and allied products industry in Ghana. Hernandez de Soto accompanied President Clinton on his visit to Ghana and recommended the development of a legal framework for the recognition of rural assets and resources as negotiable instruments.
The investment proposals of the Ministry of Trade and Industries for the development of the sugar and allied industry in Ghana reveal that the ship of state under the NDC government is listing in shallow development concepts as well as turbulent investment waters.
The Ministry of Trade and Industries has failed woefully to define and identify development destination and mission to be prosperous, with this sugar plant. The project concept is at variance with the objects of our socio-economic development aspirations and mission in history.
We call on the government to withdraw and review the investment proposal to accord with the supreme interest of our dear nation. The CPP is here to serve the nation and show the way forward.
ISSUED BY THE YOUTH WING OF THE CONVENTION PEOPLE’S PARTY
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