Businessman Dr. Kofi Amoah has cautioned the incoming NDC administration, led by president-elect John Dramani Mahama, to make a conscious effort to avoid the pitfalls of depending on so-called ‘development partners’ in their reset agenda.

According to Dr. Amoah, it is erroneous for Ghana’s political leaders to think that aligning with Bretton Woods institutions such as the IMF is the most pragmatic way to develop Ghana.

Dr. Amoah has been a vocal critic of African governments and their insatiable appetite for borrowing, the majority of which, he says, is used for fanciful projects like flyovers and consumption. The former chairman of the GFA Normalization Committee asserts that there is enough data and evidence to show that only well-thought-out, homegrown solutions can help Ghana, and by extension Africa, develop.

Dr. Amoah also finds it unfathomable that there is such a degree of poverty and deprivation in Ghana and many parts of Africa, considering the enormous natural resources the continent is blessed with.

He emphasized that prioritizing areas such as meaningful and well-paying jobs for the teeming youth can be a real game changer.

Making his point on the micro-blogging site X (formerly Twitter), Dr. Amoah, the CEO of Progeny Ventures, said the time has come for new ways of thinking to accelerate Ghana and Africa’s development.

"Is President-Elect Mahama considering 'Managed Economy' options in certain sectors of the Ghanaian economy, considering the colossal failures of unbridled capitalism for Ghana and Africa? The RESET must include the choice of other development ideologies, new and strategically selected partner countries and a new set of staggered priorities for catalyzing rapid economic growth and social modernization.

“Let JDM’s RESET proposals be analyzed in detail from our own indigenous perspectives and not from those of multilateral institutions whose agenda and methods may not necessarily gel with our goals and post-colonial realities We have a crystallized opportunity to remake and shape Ghana, not only for our own sake, but to establish again the proper paths for our continent as we did for our joint liberation from the shackles of the colonizers who are still lurking around with much sinister and cunning “freebie” Trojan Horses… Yes we need A WOKE MINDSET!”

Commenting further, he said, “We must all help in humble ways to suggest key principles of development and progress that have not been given serious weight. He cited examples, saying:

"1. We join the WTO and other international organizations without critical thinking, even though joining some of these organizations impedes our progress.

"2. We borrow for consumption instead of investing in areas that will catalyze job creation for the youth and generate tax revenues to pay for the borrowed funds.

"3. Giving key government contracts to foreigners and denying our economies the associated multiplier effects, the real reason for the borrowing in the first place.

"4. Providing certain infrastructure services, like hospitals and clinics, with loans. Even though necessary and needed, we do not connect the operational costs and debt servicing overheads to the meagre revenues that will be generated from the underpaid and unemployed people who will patronize these facilities for care. These facilities therefore have to be subsidized by a cash-strapped government deep in debt with inadequate tax revenues, hence more borrowing and the cycle continues.”

Ghana has been battling economic challenges post-COVID-19, a situation many analysts said was a result of the NPP’s reckless borrowing and corruption.

The dire economic straits that Ghana faces led to a painful and controversial domestic debt exchange program and a return to the IMF for a financial bailout.

With a new government set to take over after the ruling New Patriotic Party lost the recently held elections to the National Democratic Congress, some people have expressed fears that the incoming administration will face challenges in managing the economy because of what they say is the enormity of the rot in the last eight years under the NPP.