President Akufo-Addo being presented with a gift from Edward Effah. Picture by Gifty Ama Lawson
President Akufo-Addo has tasked the private sector to take advantage of the existing opportunities to help create jobs for Ghana’s teeming unemployed population.
He believes that the high rate of unemployment in the country constitutes a great threat to growth and stability.
Delivering the keynote address at the 3rd Ghana CEO Summit in Accra yesterday under the theme, ‘Leadership, Innovation and Investment for Business and Economic Transformation,’ President Akufo-Addo stressed that real and sustainable jobs are created by the private sector, and urged those in the sector, especially banking, to partner the government in that regard.
He urged them to take advantage of one of his government’s flagship programmes – the ‘One District, One Factory’ – to help create more jobs, even as the government continues to create a number of employment opportunities.
“This ‘One District, One Factory’ is a necessity of our time, and a key strategy towards the eradication of poverty and the creation of employment around the country. I urge you to take advantage of the various incentives that have been put in place, and help make a success of the programme,” he urged.
Despite government leading this effort, President Akufo-Addo was hopeful that the private sector would rise to the occasion, identify appropriate areas and establish viable industrial concerns in the districts.
That, for him, is the only way Ghana can also build her own strong brands like others have been able to develop Samsung, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Hyundai and many more.
President Akufo-Addo also charged the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to help indigenous banks to grow as part of the ongoing reforms in the banking sector.
That, he said, is because the viability of the banking and financial sectors is critical in any nation’s quest for rapid economic development and investment growth, adding that a nation’s economic fortune is often as good as its banking system and the confidence in its monetary environment.
“We cannot afford instability or recklessness in the banking and financial sectors. For any loss of confidence in the banks is bound to have a ripple effect on the stability of the economy as a whole,” he noted.
The president maintained, “It is in all our interests that all financial matters are dealt with professionally and without political interference, no matter how tempting. Nonetheless, it is important that the regulator recognises that a banking sector dominated by foreign-owned banks does not bode well for the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ project.”
To that end, he said, “it’s essential that indigenous banks grow and survive in any meaningful reform of the banking system. I am confident that the regulator, the Bank of Ghana, appreciates this.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent