Mr Samuel Akoetey, Director for Business Development at the Centre for Greater Impact Africa (CGIA) has said Ghana must adopt a bipartisan national crisis management strategy to deal with any future global catastrophe,
He said “we must not always be defensive and protective during troubles but work together in fighting the common enemy.
“Ebola, which hit some West African countries in the recent past, capped with the global COVID-19 pandemic offered enough warning for the country to establish the necessary infrastructure to deal with global catastrophes.
“But unfortunately, as a nation, we failed to develop the common grounds for fighting a common enemy, hence our struggling with the Russian-Ukraine war. We are not speaking as a nation but as politicians,” Mr. Akoetey said.
Mr Akoetey disclosed this when he appeared on the Ghana News Agency Tema Industrial News Hub Boardroom Dialogue platform, which was on the topic: “Global Economy, Russia and Ukraine war, prospects and challenges for Ghana.”
The GNA Tema Industrial News Hub Boardroom Dialogue is a media think-tank platform for state and non-state and commercial and business operators to communicate to the world and address global issues.
The Director noted that unfortunately as a nation since the war broke out, we had been communicating so well to defend our weaknesses, but we must know that nobody would come and solve these challenges for us, and it was up to leadership to know such things would happen hence preparing towards it.
He added that the bipartisan national crisis management strategy would then spell out national response, communication strategy to be adopted, analysis of whatever crisis and adopt appropriate local action to deal with it.
He also called on the government to fasten the development of the economy through capacity assessment and building; “this will go a long way in helping the country to prepare for future uncertainties and take the chance to fast-track development.
He noted that Ghana was not able to positively benefit from the ongoing war due to the lack of some basic economic infrastructure and value-added commodities market.
Mr Akoetey added that a country could only take advantage of such situations by originally having long-term and medium-term goals that are tactical for national development to absorb global shocks.
He also called for an attitude change towards the country’s development noting that for African countries to fully grasp the opportunities being created because of the war, they must focus on building their capacity.
On his part, the Reverend Dr Samuel Worlanyo Mensah who is an economist stressed that the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) presents an incredible opportunity for Ghanaians to scale up activities and expand into the African market.
Dr Mensah who is the CGIA Executive Director stated that AfCFTA opens the citizenry to a market of 1.2 billion people across the continent and provides endless possibilities for sociology-economic growth of the population.
He said, “The AfCFTA provides a structure for Ghana’s foreign traders, producers, and stakeholders in the value chain to grip its existence in the country to successfully trade with their fellow partners in Africa or even the world at large.”
Dr Mensah emphasized that the agreement aims to reduce all trade costs and enable Africa to integrate into the global chains adding that “AfCFTA will eliminate 90 per cent of tariffs, focus on outstanding non-tariff barriers, and create a single market with free movement of goods and services”.
According to the economist, it is estimated that the agreement will increase Africa’s export by $560 billion, mostly in manufacturing, and urged the private sector to take advantage of the agreement by expanding production both in the industrial, and agriculture sectors while taking the lead on the socio-economic transformation of the country at the same time.
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He noted that AfCFTA will expose the Ghanaian economy to be an industrial and aviation hub pointing out that every major bank will set up a branch in the country to create more opportunities.
The Governance Think-Tank Executive Director explained the intracontinental export would also increase by 81 per cent whiles the increase to non-African countries would be 19 per cent.
