Associate Professor Ebo Turkson at the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana has said Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia’s vision for the private sector was quite clear in his address to the nation on Wednesday (7 February).
Speaking on The Forum on Saturday (10 February), Turkson stated that though a lot of politics is being done with Bawumia’s speech, he, as an economist, prefers to look at the core economic interventions that the vice-president has espoused.
He advised the presidential candidate of the NPP to begin with the promotion of local consumption and empowering domestic firms if he is elected.
“His vision was clear on how he was going to support the private sector. They are doing a lot of politicking with his speech, but I’m an economist. I’m looking at the core economic interventions that he has espoused in his speech that he was going to pursue to get this economy to develop,” Turkson said.
“He [Dr Bawumia] should start with domestication, our consumption…I mean, yes, we could have a 24-hour economy only if it is driven by consumption. So it is time for us to begin to look inward and support our domestic firms to give them enough demand for what they produce.”
“That is when whatever support the government is going to give them, it’s going to begin to tell in people’s pockets. Because you see, if we don’t demand what is produced domestically, then we are still import-dependent. And when we are import-dependent, these are the challenges that our economy will go through,” he added.
Turkson also called for a shift in the mindset of Ghanaians and emphasised the need for the nation to prioritise local alternatives when making purchasing decisions.
“And so I think that we need to change our mindset. One on the consumption side, is beginning to always ask ourselves: When we go to the shops to buy goods, do we have local alternatives? Why don’t we create employment by demanding those goods? And with a supportive infrastructure and environment, our domestic firms would be able to produce quality and competitive goods.”
Reporting by Leroy Hawkson in Accra
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