President Akufo-Addo has said even though he is in a hurry to see Ghana prosper, he is also realistic that the growth he desires will not be achieved without pragmatic and deliberate efforts.

Delivering his Independence Day address at the Black Star square in Accra Tuesday, Mr. Akufo-Addo said it is unacceptable for Ghana to be in its current state in spite of the resources at its disposal.

“Ghana Beyond Aid is not a pie in the sky notion, other countries, including some of our peers at independence have done exactly that. It is doable and we must believe that what others, with less resources, have done, we can do.

“However, we are not going to achieve the transformation in our economy which is necessary for a Ghana Beyond Aid by just talking about it. We have to DO something about it!” he said.

He further stressed: “As a start, we have to do things differently. Business, as usual, will not do it. It cannot happen by waving a magic wand. And it cannot be achieved overnight. Indeed, the most rapid cases of economic and social transformation in history, those in South East Asia, generally spanned a period of about 30 years; about a generation. We cannot wait that long; we have wasted enough time already. We have to hurry but we must be realistic.

“To get to a Ghana Beyond Aid, we will have to effectively harness our own resources and creatively and efficiently deploy them for rapid economic and social transformation. This will require hard work, enterprise, creativity, and a consistent fight against corruption in public life. It will also require that we break from a mentality of dependency and adopt a confident can-do spirit, fuelled by love for our dear country, Ghana. We cannot subordinate the common good to build a prosperous nation to the selfish interest of a few”.

The President also called on Ghanaians to help protect the public purse.

“To get to a Ghana Beyond Aid, we will have to effectively harness our own resources and creatively and efficiently deploy them for rapid economic and social transformation. This will require hard work, enterprise, creativity, and a consistent fight against corruption in public life. It will also require that we break from a mentality of dependency and adopt a confident can-do spirit, fuelled by love for our dear country, Ghana. We cannot subordinate the common good to build a prosperous nation to the selfish interest of a few.

“Fellow Ghanaians, we have started on the right path with the concrete steps we are taking to restore macro-economic stability and economic growth”.