The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has emphasised the importance of developing the country’s science and technology base as an important step towards accelerated development and improving the wellbeing of the citizenry.

To achieve this, he said government has initiated policies to place science and technology at the centre of its development agenda.

“In order to achieve this objective, sectoral policies, programmes and strategies are being implemented on the bases of the overall national science technology and innovation policy,” he noted.

The President made these statements at the opening of the conference on bridging the technology gap towards Ghana beyond aid and youth employment, organised by the Ghana Institute of Engineering, MasterCard Foundation and the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, held at the Peduase Valley Resort, in Peduase.

The President noted that the conference, which brought Ghana’s finest brains, offers a vital step for the future success of the country.

He emphasised that all the countries that have transitioned from underdevelopment did so on the back of deliberate policies that utilised the application of technology for development.

He added that in spite of the enviable advances Ghana has made in its democratic governance in recent years, a lot more effort must be made to provide for the Ghanaian people, a dignified standard of living and to put the country on a path of sustained progress and prosperity.

He bemoaned the fact that although Ghana gained independence at the same time as their counterparts in Asia, they (Asians) have succeeded in applying the benefits of technology to develop their countries.

“Our economies is still substantially an agrarian one dependent largely on the production and export of raw materials supported by the largesse of our foreign friends,” adding that 61 years after independence, Ghana continues to import equipment, machinery and even human capital to man them.”

This phenomenon, he noted, is inimical to the country’s development, stressing that Ghana can no longer continue to make policies on the basis of whatever support the technologically advanced world can offer her.

“It has not worked and it will not work,” he stressed.

He added that his vision for a Ghana beyond aid is to build in Ghana, a strong robust economy capable of generating a dignified and prosperous existence for its people and making Ghana self-reliant.

“The thrust of Ghana’s development policy is to ensure that science and technology and innovation drive all sectors of the economy,” he added.

Furthermore, the President indicated that the Ministry of Science and Technology is collaborating with the Ministry of Education to setup a Foundry and a Computer Numerical Control Machine Tools Centre, both in Accra and Kumasi.

“These facilities will be engaged to manufacture tools, equipment and instruments to support key sectors of the economy, such as agriculture and industry. The goal of this initiative is to accelerate industrialisation, help solve the problem of widespread unemployment in the country, and help generate wealth that will stay in the country,” he stressed.

With the full implementation of these policies, President Akufo-Addo was confident that “we will begin to see clearly the contours of a Ghana beyond aid. It will be a prosperous Ghana whose economy is led by an entrepreneurial and innovative private sector. It will be a country serving as the regional hub for financial services with full employment, low poverty rate, stable currency and low inflation”.

Engineer Kwabena Agyei Agyapong, Executive Director of the Ghana Institute of Engineering, noted that Ghana needs to be technologically driven and results-oriented in every aspect of its development to achieve the goal of a ‘Ghana beyond Aid’.