Ghana Beyond Aid branded as WISER Ghana

Government’s vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid has been trademarked and branded as the ‘WISER Ghana’ project.

Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen who revealed this Thursday said the move will help promote more the idea of a country working towards self-reliance as well as symbolize a wealthy and prosperous country.

He noted that the Ghana Beyond Aid vision won’t happen by chance but will only be realised through systematic planning and management of our resources.

“We have branded the new vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid as a WISER Ghana. W stands for a Wealthy Ghana, I stands for Inclusive Ghana, S stands for a Sustainable Ghana, E stands for an Empowered Ghana and R stands for a Resilient Ghana. So we hope that we will become a WISER Ghana over the years.”

Addressing the delegates at the Ghana-EU Business Forum, June 13th, 2019, the Minister reiterated that the project, under President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo is aimed at ensuring through its policies and agenda, the reduction of poverty in the country.

“President of Ghana Akufo-Addo has articulated for us a new vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid. Now a Ghana Beyond Aid which symbolizes a wealthy and prosperous country, a Ghana Beyond Aid which also is inclusive meaning that we want to bring everybody along and ensure that our developing agenda significantly reduces the level of poverty and also addresses inequality in our society.”

According to government, Ghana Beyond Aid was set up with the aim of building a country less dependent on foreign aid, one that is self-sufficient and prosperous, independent of hand-outs.

As part of government’s agenda to create a nation self-sufficient, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Robert Ahomka-Lindsay also revealed that under the One District One Factory, government will not engage in the building and construction of factories.

He noted that government is bent on engaging the private sector by supporting them as part of its economic transformation agenda.

He however revealed that government will not lend funds out to private investors seeking to partake in the 1D 1F program. He however encouraged the EU investors to adopt a newer strategy that will produce a greater results.

“Government is not building these factories. Our interventions, our support are to our local financial institutions. We have realized that as government, doing business as usual is not going to work, so both our friends from the EU and our Ghanaian institutions, to which we are working with must look for newer ways of doing things, because doing things the same way, will not yield a different result and we need different results.”