Togbe Mawufeame Fugah, Head of the Ewe Community in the Ashanti Region, has urged government to take bold steps to improve the manufacturing base of the economy.

This, he said, was necessary to generate the needed employment to improve the nation’s exports and productivity and also stimulate competition amongst corporate entities to alleviate poverty.

Togbe Fugah, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, said it was regrettable that the nation’s economy had over the years been import-based, saying “any nation that adheres to this practice was bound to fail.”

Ghana, he said, had the potential to achieve a breakthrough in its socio-economic agenda if “we change our economic policies and strategies in a manner that benefits local industries”

“We have no choice than to encourage and resource small and medium-scale enterprises to improve their productivity for exports.”

Togbe Fugah said appropriate steps should be taken to also train and empower local industries to adopt best practices and also add value to their finished products.

He said this was critical, if they want to penetrate the international market for the sustenance of their businesses.

On the depreciation of the local currency, he tasked policy-makers to research intensively and come out with pragmatic measures to address the situation.