President of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA), Dr Joseph Obeng, has called on African countries to refrain from being political with their economies, insisting that lazy economies cannot have luxurious expenditure.
Dr Obeng revealed that for African countries to truly adopt a ‘beyond aid’ status and build robust economies, it is imperative for them to manage their resources and prioritize the needs of the people. This, he explained, will prevent the situation where they would have to run to the West for aid.
“Most of us in Africa are very political… So, the earlier we depart from that concept and we become more economic than being political the better; because lazy economies cannot have a luxurious expenditure… So, we have to be able to manage our expenditure, prioritize needs; in this case we are thinking about industrialization. So, if all our focus will be on adding value to our raw materials, then it is a good priority for us, so that in future, we will be able to add value to a lot more of our produce to enhance on our productivity…”
Dr Joseph Obeng
Commenting on how to build stronger network and collaborative system with neighbouring countries to help African countries become self-reliant, Dr Obeng emphasized that there is the need for these countries to add more value to their products. He noted that Africans can also capitalize on the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to maximize their potentials.
“That’s why there’s intercontinental free trade… But you see, here also, you see that they always say we do intra-trade in Africa of only 15%. It is so because the people of Africa will not consume raw materials and by that we consume products. That’s why we have to ensure that we have a lot more value addition to our raw materials. The continental free trade if it will be a success, then we have to industrialize, we have to make sure that we produce a lot more than what we are always importing. That has been the bane. But the people of Africa are [not] able to source these needs; the things that are needed for our consumption [not] from Africa but from somewhere else. It is difficult to get these needs from other member countries like Nigeria, Togo and all that.”
Dr Joseph Obeng
The GUTA President expressed that Ghana, in this case, has taken the lead with its industrialization agenda to be self-reliant. He indicated that some of the policies being implement are laudable and can be replicated in other countries.
“Anything that you source from these corridors mostly are also imported. So, what we have to do is what we have started in Ghana; the 1D1F. If we can fast-track some of these things and especially when we concentrate on the areas that we have competitive advantage, then of course [these] countries will be a hub of those things they have advantages [and] they have cost-effective and efficient production [on] and then we will rely on ourselves even within a continent. In that case, we will be able to enrich ourselves.”
Dr Joseph Obeng
Attaining Africa beyond aid
Reacting to President Akufo-Addo’s request to policymakers to develop policies that will make Africa to prosper and “pursue a path of prosperity and self-respect for the African Continent”, Dr Obeng highlighted that it will prove difficult to achieve if African nations keep experiencing “deficit in trade”. He iterated that African countries tend to prioritize “politics ahead of economics”, thereby resulting in “over-bloated expenditure”.
“… That has been the bane. If you have budget deficits that’s where you call in for foreign aid. So, normally, we source these foreign aids to service the shortfall in our budget. What do we have to do? We have to look at why always our expenditure is over-bloated. The expenditure is over-bloated because we have corruption and then we lack value for money for our expenses. We do not prioritize our needs and because of politics we do so many things at a time so our budget is over-bloated.”
Dr Joseph Obeng
Once African nations are confronted with “excessive deficits”, Dr Obeng maintained that they will have no alternative than to rely on foreign aids. He stated that in instances where these aids are not forthcoming, then these countries have to go for “commercial borrowing”.
“So, if we do not wean ourselves from this over-bloated expenditure, especially when we have not been able to increase productivity that will ensure that we have positive trade surplus, then of course, we will be reeling in abject poverty.”
Dr Joseph Obeng
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