As EMT chairman, I'm proud of the quality of advice we have provided - Dr. Bawumia

The Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has said that he is proud of the quality of advice that the Economic Management Team (EMT), which he chairs, has been providing to the cabinet for the past seven years.

According to him, even though the team is only an advisory body to cabinet, he is satisfied with the team's work so far.

“I was, thankfully, appointed as Chairman of the Economic Management Team (EMT). As a sub-committee to Cabinet, we do not have any decision-making powers, but I am very proud of the quality of advice we have been providing over the years to Cabinet,” he stated.

Dr. Bawumia explained that as chairman of the team, he was tasked by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to assess and solve some of the problems that were inhibiting the transformation of Ghana's economy, such as the informal sector, the low tax base, the inefficient public service delivery, and the lack of data.

He said that his approach to addressing the task given to him was to formalise the economy through digitalisation.

According to him, this is the reason his office had oversight responsibility of many of the government's digitalisation projects, such as the Ghana Card, the Mobile Money Interoperability, the National Digital Property Addressing System, the Paperless Port System, and the Ghana.Gov Platform.

“As Vice-President, I was asked by the President to assist in solving some of the problems that were inhibiting the transformation of Ghana’s economy. My approach was to help formalize the economy through digitalization as stated in our 2016 manifesto.

“This is why my office has had oversight responsibility for many of the government’s digitalization projects. We can only build a vibrant modern nation if we have strong systems and institutions that work. Very soon, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will transform the world, how are we preparing Ghana for this new phenomenon?

“… I will now come to how we are using digitalisation to transform the economy and preparing our society to be competitive as Africa is busily becoming the largest single market in the world, with its 1.4 billion people,” he stated.

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, said these in a lecture in Accra on February 7, 2024.

At the lecture, on the theme, "Bawumia Speaks. Ghana’s Next Chapter: Selfless Leadership and Bold Solutions for the Future,” the NPP flagbearer outlined some of his policies as well as the programmes he would implement should he form a new government in 2025.

NW/AE