Ghana needs technological catch up – Ayariga

Mr Mahama Ayariga, Minister of the Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, has highlighted the need for Ghana to catch up, and bridge the technology gap between Ghana and the developed nations.

He said the worrying economic challenges and the negative facts and figures about Ghana’s economy that were beginning to dominate public discourse, had the import of technology as a major cause.

Speaking on the Ministry of Education’s Campus Connect platform at the Accra Polytechnic on Wednesday, Mr Ayariga noted that it was often the case that either finished technological products or the technology to manufacture the products was imported.

“When we do this, we are exchanging the few dollars that we have for their finished products,” he said.

He said in the light of this phenomenon, Ghana needed to implement a “technological catch up.”

“It might not be easy, but we have no other choice”, the Minister said.

To this end, he said, government would formulate some policies to aid the process.

Mr Ayariga said government would soon begin to popularize the generation of bio-gas from waste for the purpose of cooking and lighting.

He said among other things, this would relieve rural dwellers from the toil of carrying firewood and reduce deforestation in the long run.

He assured the Accra Polytechnic that when the time was due, at least 200 students who were into building technology, would receive training on bio-gas generation.

He said government was also working to put the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) in a position to use competency-based programmes to impart more technical skills.