Govt must identify the type of Industries we can sustain.The infrastructural support is very essential,if you don't have energy safety;I don't see how you are going to develop your industries.If you don't have the money,I don ... read full comment
Govt must identify the type of Industries we can sustain.The infrastructural support is very essential,if you don't have energy safety;I don't see how you are going to develop your industries.If you don't have the money,I don't see how you are going to fund your projects.If you don't have the technology in terms of materials and human resources,I don't see how you are going to achieve the desired results.I think the highly industrailised countries are facing the same problem where many indudtries have been closed down or sold out.My concern here is that we should be looking at different areas for investment.For example,building new seaports with modern logistics,taking agriculture very seriously and making sure that simply fundamentals like energy,water,roads and railways are all in order then we can say we are moving forward.Thank you.
TCHWEAAH 9 years ago
Excellent analysis. I slightly disagree, however, on the cause of factory shut-downs in the advanced countries. The real reason for "off-shoring" was greed. Yes, greed although it is always represented as "cost of labour". Th ... read full comment
Excellent analysis. I slightly disagree, however, on the cause of factory shut-downs in the advanced countries. The real reason for "off-shoring" was greed. Yes, greed although it is always represented as "cost of labour". The giant corporations did not want to pay their workers their worth, and by relocating to distant shores, typically, third world countries or emerging economies (China after Mao, in the 80's and 90's). However, it remains a certainty that no matter where, once workers attain a certain level of skill, they will demand better conditions of work. This is happening now in China, in particular, at FoxConn the maker of Apple products. FoxConn's solution is to automate more of the assembly processes and use as many robots as possible! Already FoxConn uses 10,000 robots. It plans to acquire a million robots by 2015 for hire. Throw in the advent of 3D printers and a new industrial revolution is at hand with serious consequences! Fewer humans involved in production. Work will be more mental and for individuals with highly specialized skills.
On the other hand, there is a small de-offshoring reverse process manifesting itself. A number of US companies have now started returning and building new factories there again. The reason is not hard to find. With less production in the advanced countries and more unemployment, people have less money to purchase the products made abroad.
BOY KOFI 9 years ago
The essential logic of this article is of employment creation and poverty reduction.You see,automation has been in the Industrial Sector for a very long time but some Labour specialists are kicking against it because it reduc ... read full comment
The essential logic of this article is of employment creation and poverty reduction.You see,automation has been in the Industrial Sector for a very long time but some Labour specialists are kicking against it because it reduce employment in all sectors.We must start from somewhere and Agriculture has been proven to be a very good starting point.I would like to remind you that Ghana had a very solid industrial foundation in the 60s but why have we lost everything today?I think that's the question we should be asking ourselves.Thank you.
TCHWEAAH 9 years ago
"I would like to remind you that Ghana had a very solid industrial foundation in the 60s but why have we lost everything today?"
I was actually puzzled and disappointed why the author of the article did not mention the ind ... read full comment
"I would like to remind you that Ghana had a very solid industrial foundation in the 60s but why have we lost everything today?"
I was actually puzzled and disappointed why the author of the article did not mention the industrialization achieved in the first republic under Nkrumah.
Do not remind me of what was achieved in the first republic because I'll be in tears before you finish! I was a child when Nkrumah was overthrown but I remember some things very well. I remember the hundreds of men and women in the Workers' Brigade, who would march, even on Saturdays, to their farms. At the end of the day you would see women - yes, women - driving tractors back to their base. I knew of the Sanyo factory in Tema where TV's tape recorders, portable wireless sets, and refrigerators were assembled. I remember very well that under Busia, a British businessman came all the way to Ghana and bought the "inferior" Soviet fishing trawlers of the State Fishing Corporation (privatized to Mankoadze). I still have a copy of the Seven-Year Development Plan. Nkrumah planned to turn the Northern Region into the breadbasket of Ghana. Agriculture occupied a very crucial place in Nkrumah's plan to develop Ghana besides industrialization.
Not long ago Mahama himself was expressing "surprise" at the number of unemployed graduates. He and others in NDC have also found it fashionable to talk about Ghana consuming more that it exports as the cause of the depreciation of the Cedi! But who de-industrialized Ghana? It was the P/NDC beginning with Rawlings, and their operatives still in government such as Botchwey (Finance Minister for 13 years, and Totobi Quakyi (Minister for Information and Chairperson of the infamous Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC). Yes, NDC, more than any other government, should be able to answer all your questions on why we lost everything, as you correctly put it! You can ask Kofi Totobi Quakyi to begin with.
Alexander Illi 9 years ago
I was equally surprised that no mention of Nkrumah has been made in this article.
The same article has been published here on GhanaWeb two weeks ago, and I commented there accordingly:
"Can it be that the peak at the very ... read full comment
I was equally surprised that no mention of Nkrumah has been made in this article.
The same article has been published here on GhanaWeb two weeks ago, and I commented there accordingly:
"Can it be that the peak at the very beginning of the statistics represented the remnants of the Dr. Kwame Nkrumah-led efforts at the industrialisation of Ghana?
In that case, that might have been the reason why Dr. Nkrumah's administration had to get disposed of, because he would have led the foundations to true independence via industrialisation.
Waht the established industrialised countries need is producers of cheap feedstocks, not newly independent competitors. That's also why "developing countries" is a cynical euphemism, as there is no earnest intention to develop these resource-suppliers technologically, as then the would use their resources themselves to process them industrially and consume and sell the value-enhanced final products.
Therefore it is no wonder that large foreign "investments" and "aid" go mainly to the sectors that allow them to extract feedstocks (resources) from Ghana, i.e. e.g. mining, oil, gas, timber, fishing and roads connecting the resource-rich districts to the harbours.
Since international Terms-of-Trade agreements are usually slanted (the big industrialised country turn up with more lawyers and lobbyists than the whole of Africa can muster, so to say, and they alos have means of exerting more or less subtle pressure) and one-sided, it may get very hard to industrialise in the face of protectionism (e.g. open or hidden protective subsidies in the industrialised countries and protective prohibitive tariffs at their borders: withholding of technological knowledge etc.).
However, there should be incetives for Ghanaian domestic investors and the administration to promote industrialisation: foremost, the bureaucracy should be simple, transparent, comprehensive and meaningful.
For Example, the potential hassle at the harbour and post-offices and airport to import spare parts and the like is just too disencouraging, with "officials" even inventing "fees" at their whim.
Hurdles to open a business have to be lowered. It is totally impracticable to have to visit dozens of offices at various dates in far away Accra just to register a new company.
But perhaps most of all, Ghana has to acknowledge and consider, as explained above, that outside forces try to prevent industrialisation, and it may not be easy to overcome these obstructions in a rush.
Ghana, in my opinion, should start with its own talents, e.g. really bring forward small scale agriculture, build a fertilizer plant, as Abu Sakara has suggested, build Centers for down-to-earth, hands-on agric demonstration of breadfruit cultivation ("Africa's Breadfruit Revolution") and other revolutionary, independence-enhancing farming methods (e.g. Evergreen Agriculture, Farm Pond Technology and many more), build Breadfruit-flour factories. Agriculture in its new sustainable improved forms, that are unfortunately largely still unknown to politicians, provides employment and food security and the basis for industrialisation."
I disagree with you TCHWEAAH yes it was Nkrumah who tried a measure of the diversification process in Ghana. However after the removal of Nkrumah none of the regimes that followed have really embarked on the diversification o ... read full comment
I disagree with you TCHWEAAH yes it was Nkrumah who tried a measure of the diversification process in Ghana. However after the removal of Nkrumah none of the regimes that followed have really embarked on the diversification of the economy of Ghana and the diversification of the export mix. Yes farming and the processing of agricultural produce, minerals and oil should have been the game changer in transforming the economy of Ghana instead of the over reliance on the exportation of agricultural produce, crude oil and minerals to foreign lands at the expense of the Ghanaian economy. Value added goods (diversification) does not only create jobs in Ghana but it will also strengthen the Cedi and ensure food security during the lean season. Rotten agricultural produce could be a thing of the past if these produce are canned since they have a longer shelf life. Diversification of the export mix will offer Ghana the opportunity to have several sources of national income rather than the current exportation of unprocessed natural resources which value less than their processed counterparts on the global market. Paradoxically these raw materials from Ghana and other African countries are further processed into cars, gadgets, electronics fridges etc and are then sold back to Ghana and other developing countries at high prices to Ghana and other African countries. Diversification will also improve indigenous technology and create a conducive environment for the awards of patents to Ghanaian scientists and researchers. Diversification will also mean diversifying from the over reliance on a single or a few sources of power which are a necessary prerequisite for vibrant industrialization/manufacturing and the diversification process. Consistent droughts have made the over reliance on hydro counterproductive and yet Ghanaian governments keep on adding more hydro to their inventory. Diversification will mean an abundance of FDI's from willing foreign countries which are willing to give FDI's to Ghana to venture into technologies like tidal and wave technologies along the coastline from Afloa to Axim, solar technology, geothermal, wind and hydro. What we have seen is a repetition of errors from previous governments (including NDC and NPP)-the continuation of an over emphasis on commodity goods (natural resources) as the main foreign exchange earners for the country. Simply put no government since Nkrumah has been immune from committing these errors. Reason if any did then the situation would have been better now. You should not expect your local currency to appreciate when you are a net importer of foreign goods and more so when your exports are similar in characteristics-natural resources/commodity goods and are priced much lower than their processed counterparts on the global market. The Central Bank cannot introduce measures to strengthen the cedi unless the country in simple terms places its efforts on scientific agriculture, process agricultural produce, minerals and crude oil before their sale on the global market (manufacturing) diversity both the economy (primary, secondary and tertiary) and diversify the export mix. To date no political party since Nkrumah'a regime has met that threshold yet! Mauritius is a living testament to the viability of the diversification process and so do the emerging economies of India, China, Brazil and Chile. These are countries which less than a century ago were developing countries like Ghana. Will Ghana take a cue from them?
insight to the bone 9 years ago
We are very upset with the embassy apologizing , when will men of courage stand up and speak the truth , intimidating a whole embassy into retracting and not speaking up is very sad . we dont need cowards here .This no time f ... read full comment
We are very upset with the embassy apologizing , when will men of courage stand up and speak the truth , intimidating a whole embassy into retracting and not speaking up is very sad . we dont need cowards here .This no time for pampering or being nice to idiot mahama for niceties sake, call a spade a spade and let him know this is the worst president Ghana could ever entertain . Just look at his reshuffle and his cabinet together with his choice of appointees . I say to you they would be better off in a Jerry Springer show just to emphasize the extreme stupidity that exists in every country , just that in the USA such characters would never make it to the White house like in Ghana . A president with 17 children and God knows how many women claims he has good intentions , is honest and with integrity , his ministers are busy looting the coffers like homies from the Bronx let into the fort Knox vaults . Chief directors of ministries who have their hands our requesting for bribes for no work done . Party officials like gen mosquito and boateng gyan supporting this ludicrous govt just because it keeps their party in power . The opposition being infected by this ndc madness so is on an ego trip of personality cult heave-hoes instead of being united so the two strongest personalities can not se that its best that whoever wins chooses the other as his vice . All of them together say we Akan nationalists are merely tribalists as they don't understand or see the difference . Yes its a sorry state of affairs and in this tragedy we don't know whether to cry or laugh . There are so many idiots in the cabinet and corridors of power that it makes one wonder how come things got turned upside down then we remember it started with jj rawlings and his anti Akan hate agenda leading to the ongoing discrimination of the Akans so our wise men and diaspora do not have the opportunity to assist in finding solutions or participating in governance . yes we have a situation whereby idiots keep congratulating themselves on no work done and the mess they have so gleefully caused . Jerry Springer no need to search for an audience or candidates for your show just visit the presidency and you will have enough material for the next 50 years .
Counselor 9 years ago
Let me reiterate, to date no political party since Nkrumah's regime has met the diversification threshold of both the economy and the export mix. While it is okay to support a particular party the truth has to be told and tha ... read full comment
Let me reiterate, to date no political party since Nkrumah's regime has met the diversification threshold of both the economy and the export mix. While it is okay to support a particular party the truth has to be told and that implies that you need to be objective in your economic assessment and pronouncement of events in Ghana. Yes NDC has its faults but so do NPP and other regimes which failed to diversify the economy and export mix. NDC could come out with a myriad of reasons why NPP did not succeed in spurring sustainable economic growth in Ghana in the past when they had the chance. Yes corruption is rampant in Ghana; but this has been the case in every regime in Ghana. Why do you exclude one party at the expense of others; and at any rate no single party should have the monopoly to rule the country and neither should one tribe or group of people claim to be legitimate rulers of Ghana at the expense of other tribes. Ghana is facing an economic predicament and what is needed is for all parties to come together to help find a solution to this problem and that is my advice to you!
insight to the bone 9 years ago
normally i wouldnt bother to respond to such a thesis . The main problem in Ghana is the lack of unity caused by the discrimination and anti Akan agenda . if the majority of the people are not included then the potential of t ... read full comment
normally i wouldnt bother to respond to such a thesis . The main problem in Ghana is the lack of unity caused by the discrimination and anti Akan agenda . if the majority of the people are not included then the potential of the nation can not be utilized to the benefit of the people , that has been the problem of all govts including Nkrumah's . Corruption exists in every country but in our case its so rampant that nothing is left untainted or contaminated because its being used as a weapon of destruction against the Akans .
Alex Illi 9 years ago
You're really up-to-date.
Post-rationalisation employment-creation schemes will eventually have to be found (e.g. maybe selfdetermined "honorary work" with basis income), once mechanisation and computerisation etc. will ma ... read full comment
You're really up-to-date.
Post-rationalisation employment-creation schemes will eventually have to be found (e.g. maybe selfdetermined "honorary work" with basis income), once mechanisation and computerisation etc. will make the necessity for most human labour obsolete. But that's the next step. It will have to be a revolutionary step, because if industrial human labour becomes largely superfluous, then labour's worth and incomes will no longer be evaluable financially at all (even now the fair monetary evaluation of labour's worth is a much contested topic). It's all quite unheard of in history.
For Ghana's unique current challenges I also recommend focus on sustainable agricultural improvements and industrialisation of agricultural processing, all-the-while with the main focus on keeping the small-scale-farmers, who constitute the backbone of Ghana's economy, in work with viable cash-crops and with the immediately following secondary focus on environmental sustainability (e.g. keeping and even raising natural soil fertility and biodiversity). That to my knowledge is only achievable with:
- state-owned decentralised Breadfruit Flour Factories, in cooperation with the Government handing out Breadfruit trees to small-scale farmers at net cost price or below, intitially,
as detailed on the non-profit-site "Africa's Breadfruit Revolution",
- a national Fertilizer Factory based on domestically produced fossil oil and phosphorus imported from nearby West-African countries, to lower the costs of the annual fertilizer subsidies, in combination with nationwide prominent publication and forcible promotion of the Fertilizer Microdosing method applicable by small-scale-farmers,
as well as Fertilizer plants (e.g. Faidherbia albida trees, Evergreen Agriculture; Gliricidia sepium, Alleycropping; Mucuna beans (edua appiah), Improved Fallows; all of which utilize the nitrogen-fixation-capacity of legumes along with many other advantages that would lead to far to list completely here (e.g. nearly complete weed-suppression
under Mucuna and Faidherbia
=> greatly reduced workload and greatly reduced pesticide-requirement). All have in common the sustainable reduction of synthetic fertilizer inputs and the avoidance of the "slash and burn"-practise, which has become disastrous to Ghanaian soil-fertility and eco-systems by now due to population pressure, infrastructural accessibility to remote areas (feeder roads etc.) and increased motorized mobility.
- state-maintained Centers for diversification of agricultural produce for food safety and broadening of production basis, offering propagation materials (e.g. seeds, cuttings...) to any interested farmers and maintaining experimental and demonstrational fields, along with offering informational services,
as three combined exemplary pioneering initiatives to get environmentally and socially sustainable industrialisation strongly going at low costs, without driving small-scale-farmers and subsistence farmers out of their only source of income.
Counselor 9 years ago
Ghana and other Africa nations will be doing themselves an economic justice by having quality human resources, pursue a massive industrialization drive, embrace both an economic and an export mix diversification platforms wit ... read full comment
Ghana and other Africa nations will be doing themselves an economic justice by having quality human resources, pursue a massive industrialization drive, embrace both an economic and an export mix diversification platforms with the advent of globalization. Ghana and the rest of the African nations do not have a choice but to accept these strengths if they really want economic sustainability as they venture into the 21st century.
insight to the bone 9 years ago
diversification of what ? cocoa is our only crop all the rest of the initiatives within the system have been sabotaged because of tribal politics . industrialization can never happen as the ruling elite have not reached that ... read full comment
diversification of what ? cocoa is our only crop all the rest of the initiatives within the system have been sabotaged because of tribal politics . industrialization can never happen as the ruling elite have not reached that consciousness due to their tribal/feudal mentality . industrialization for us is all about adding value to our natural resources and producing products competitive to the global economy . in short give the wealth of the nation directly to the people of the nation , in our case that can never happen as the true agenda of this tribal politics of the oligarchy needs to keep our people poor so they can continue to stay in power . there is nothing to diversify but prepare our people for the true bloody revolution that will set our people free
Govt must identify the type of Industries we can sustain.The infrastructural support is very essential,if you don't have energy safety;I don't see how you are going to develop your industries.If you don't have the money,I don ...
read full comment
Excellent analysis. I slightly disagree, however, on the cause of factory shut-downs in the advanced countries. The real reason for "off-shoring" was greed. Yes, greed although it is always represented as "cost of labour". Th ...
read full comment
The essential logic of this article is of employment creation and poverty reduction.You see,automation has been in the Industrial Sector for a very long time but some Labour specialists are kicking against it because it reduc ...
read full comment
"I would like to remind you that Ghana had a very solid industrial foundation in the 60s but why have we lost everything today?"
I was actually puzzled and disappointed why the author of the article did not mention the ind ...
read full comment
I was equally surprised that no mention of Nkrumah has been made in this article.
The same article has been published here on GhanaWeb two weeks ago, and I commented there accordingly:
"Can it be that the peak at the very ...
read full comment
I disagree with you TCHWEAAH yes it was Nkrumah who tried a measure of the diversification process in Ghana. However after the removal of Nkrumah none of the regimes that followed have really embarked on the diversification o ...
read full comment
We are very upset with the embassy apologizing , when will men of courage stand up and speak the truth , intimidating a whole embassy into retracting and not speaking up is very sad . we dont need cowards here .This no time f ...
read full comment
Let me reiterate, to date no political party since Nkrumah's regime has met the diversification threshold of both the economy and the export mix. While it is okay to support a particular party the truth has to be told and tha ...
read full comment
normally i wouldnt bother to respond to such a thesis . The main problem in Ghana is the lack of unity caused by the discrimination and anti Akan agenda . if the majority of the people are not included then the potential of t ...
read full comment
You're really up-to-date.
Post-rationalisation employment-creation schemes will eventually have to be found (e.g. maybe selfdetermined "honorary work" with basis income), once mechanisation and computerisation etc. will ma ...
read full comment
Ghana and other Africa nations will be doing themselves an economic justice by having quality human resources, pursue a massive industrialization drive, embrace both an economic and an export mix diversification platforms wit ...
read full comment
diversification of what ? cocoa is our only crop all the rest of the initiatives within the system have been sabotaged because of tribal politics . industrialization can never happen as the ruling elite have not reached that ...
read full comment