Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has cautioned against focusing on the short-term symptoms of the current crisis and forgetting the structural issues that the worst-hit countries are confronted with, which are mostly to do with the lack of competitiveness of their economies.

According to him, this is a wakeup call to African countries to adopt a technological approach to development, especially as the continent seeks to rebuild and rise.

Addressing a high-level African Union-backed “BOMA” event, Dr Bawumia said the twin factors influencing the global economic crisis – the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Ukraine conflict – have exposed gaps in the world’s economic and political architecture, which will affect Africa’s quest for growth, if the continent does not act decisively to build technological industries that are more resilient to global economic shocks.

Dr. Bawumia indicated that it is clear that countries that depend mostly on primary industries suffer harsher consequences when the global economy takes a nosedive than those that have diversified their economies through higher technology inputs.

“The challenges that have beset the global economy may have been fueled by temporary crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict. But these challenges are still a wakeup call to Africa that there are deep structural gaps in the global economic and political architecture that can frustrate its rise, unless serious concerted efforts are made to plug them”.
Dr. Bawumia

Ghana as an example on the continent

Dr. Bawumia indicated that the African continent needs to adopt the emerging data-driven technological approaches to development which would help create the right structure for African businesses and SMEs and connect them from isolation, to the world of business.

Urging fellow African countries on, Dr. Bawumia noted that Ghana has chosen to take a path to economic development marked by increasing technological, especially digital, content in its development programs.

Dr. Bawumia conceded to certain ongoing challenges to optimally harness data, talent and improve regulations to advance the course of technological advancement in Ghana and Africa.

He however, insisted that these matters are being given the necessary attention. Elaborating on the theme, he added, “if the massive shifts currently underway, such as the fast emergence of a new type of internet, are to benefit, rather than further marginalize Africa, the continent must make the right investments now.”

“We are very mindful of these potential pitfalls and are investing in both the institutions and infrastructure that will enable us to both leapfrog our infrastructure and education system limits and rapidly advance the regulatory capabilities we need to deal with complex challenges like balancing sovereignty and efficiency, as we become a data-driven economy”.
Dr. Bawumia

Dr. Bawumia, while acknowledging efforts some African countries are making in adopting technology-driven development, also shared with the forum some specific areas Ghana has invested in, and how they are expected to boost commerce.

“We have successfully developed new identity infrastructure that will transform credit scoring for SMEs, remove the bottlenecks in e-commerce and lay the ground for the modernization of business supportive government services.

“We have totally transformed the financial technology landscape and reworked our mobile telecom industry to enable us take advantage of the 5G revolution and the internet of things as they gather pace. No one who has followed our policy journey in Ghana can doubt our total commitment to the technological approach to development”.
Dr. Bawumia

The Boma forum brought together global political and business leaders to deliberate on the progress of Africa towards Agenda 2063, the AU’s timetable for transforming Africa into a global economic force.