Flourishing economy to boost private sector growth – Gov’t

Adnan Adams
Mohammed
The government
says it has achieved favorable macroeconomic situation which is an indication
of its commitment to ensuring a conducive business environment to propel
private sector growth.
The positive signs
in the macroeconomic indices are as a result of the government’s effort to
restoring fiscal discipline in the management of the economy.
The country’s
major macroeconomic indicators have improved with policy rate hovering around
16%, inflation rate in single digit, a high GDP growth for the past two years
among others despite the challenges associated with the financial sector
clean-up.
“We, in Ghana, are
taking steps to put our country onto a similar path. Maintaining a stable macro
economy is fundamental to attracting private sector investment,” President
Akufo-Addo said when speaking at the 7th Tokyo International Conference on
African Development (TICAD). Adding that, “We have restored fiscal discipline,
our macroeconomic indices are pointing in the right direction, we have
implemented tax cuts and incentives to stimulate the rapid growth of the
private sector, and we are projected, according to the International Monetary
Fund, to be the fastest growing economy in the world this year.”
The President
noted that Ghana and Africa must emulate the story of the East Asian Miracle,
if the potential of the country and continent is to be realized. Further
indicating that, the twenty-three (23) countries of East Asia, especially
Japan, from 1965 to 1990, grew faster than all the regions in the world,
largely because of their belief in the primacy of the private sector, and the
critical support they offered to ensure it survived and thrived.
This, the
President stressed, has led, in his time as President, “to some of the world’s
largest vehicle manufacturing companies signaling their intention to set-up
assembly plants in the country, with global energy giants investing in the
development of our considerable oil and gas deposits, and the establishment of
the first Artificial Intelligence Centre in Africa by Google in Ghana. Their
decision to operate in Ghana is for good reason.”
Additionally,
President Akufo-Addo told his colleague heads of state and governments that
Ghana, under his leadership, is leveraging technology to help reform and
improve the country’s institutional and regulatory processes, to develop a
digital economy that is supporting sustained economic growth, and improving the
wellbeing of our citizens.
“We are embracing
fully the advancements made in the digital world to help drive growth and
increased productivity of our economy,” he added.
Additionally, the
President noted that if the aspirations and desires of Africa’s young
populations for jobs, progress and prosperity, are to be met, then the
structural transformation of Africa’s economies can no longer be postponed.
“It is time we
also traded in the world economy, not on the basis of exports of raw materials,
but on the basis of things we make and grow”, he said.
With the future of
Africa and her economy going to be driven by the youth of the continent,
President Akufo-Addo was confident that “they are going to build Africa, and
we, in Ghana, are determined to provide them with the skills to do so. The
vision is to build a free, prosperous, self-reliant Africa, an Africa Beyond
Aid.”
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