The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has reaffirmed Government’s commitment to transforming Ghana despite the global economic challenges which have brought dire straits on the country’s fortunes.

Speaking at the Pentecost Convention Centre at Millennium City, Kasoa, on Thursday, Dr Bawumia said the Akufo-Addo government has been focused on undertaking major structural reforms in the Ghanaian economy by shifting from a focus on the production of raw materials to value addition.

This, Dr Bawumia said, is to address the urgent need to change the structure of the Ghanaian economy and make it responsive to the realities of the time, especially as the world moves into the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“Virtually every government in our history has noted the need for Ghana to change the structure of the economy through diversification and by shifting from the focus on the production of raw materials to value addition. This is a key pillar of Nana Akufo-Addo’s Ghana Beyond Aid agenda,” Dr Bawumia emphasized.

The Vice President explained that to accomplish this, Government has implemented a number of programmes that continue to yield significant results, with plans to implement even more.

Some of the programmes include Planting for Food and Jobs to increase agricultural output for agro-processing and food sufficiency, which has resulted in a significant increase in food production.

He added that the left and right banks of the Kpong dam have also been rehabilitated to provide 13,190 hectares of additional irrigable land for rice and vegetable cultivation.

This is in addition to 80 warehouses that have been constructed with a combined storage capacity of 80,000 MT to provide storage and reduce post-harvest losses.

“Reforms in the cocoa sector (including hand pollination) have resulted in the highest ever cocoa production (1,047,385 tonnes) recorded in Ghana during the 2020/2021 cocoa season. This is very remarkable.

The “One-District-One-Factory” policy has taken off with a significant impact on the manufacturing sector, the Vice President continued. 106 factories have been completed and are operational, and 148 factories are under construction. This represents the largest number of factories established under a government program since independence.

The facilitation of the growth of an Automotive Industry is on course. Volkswagen, Suzuki, Sino Truck, Peugeot, Toyota, and recently Nissan have all established assembly plants in Ghana. KIA, Hyundai and Renault are also on course to start production in Ghana this year. Kantanka automobiles are also benefiting from the same incentives that have attracted these giants onto our shores”, he said.

True to its commitment to diversifying the economy and value addition, Government has also started the process of building the integrated bauxite and aluminium industry, the Vice President pointed out.

“The partner for the project (Rocksure International), a wholly-owned Ghanaian company, has been selected and has already started work to develop the Nyinahin-Mpassaso hills. The Minerals Resource Estimate to confirm the quantity and quality of the bauxite will be undertaken this year after which the refinery design will follow for the establishment of the Aluminum refinery.

Ghana has waited for this since independence and with visionary leadership, sound planning and by the Grace of God it is finally happening”, he added.

While touting these measures, Bawumia reiterated Government’s commitment to economic reform, no matter how long it takes.

“Changing the structure of our economy through diversification and value addition will not happen overnight. However, it remains a major preoccupation of the government because it is our pathway to reduce import dependency, expand the economy, create jobs, increase exports, and support the value of our currency.

Global crisis

The data shows that despite all the challenges of the last two years, even with COVID-19, the growth of the economy is fundamentally stronger than it was in the 2013-2016 period, and we will continue to do more,” he pledged.