Oil alone can't make Ghana middle income nation- Veep

Accra, Sept. 27, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama, on Monday stated that revenue from oil alone cannot transform Ghana into a middle income status by the projected 2015 timetable. He therefore expressed the need for the country to strengthen its economic ties with its development partners to pave way for the fulfilment of the dream.

Vice President Mahama who was addressing the Ghana Consultative Group Annual Partnership Meeting in Accra called on Ghanaians to view revenue from oil as a supplementary income and not a facility to replace the traditional sources of income.

The meeting was on the theme: Managing the transition to a middle Income Economy with an emerging Oil sector: The Role of ODA (Official Development Assistance) in sustaining National Development." The brainstorming summit aimed at accelerating progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), considered a shared vision and policy framework for Ghana from 2010 to 2013 and the promotion of effective accountability. Vice President Mahama called on stakeholders to organise educational sessions and plans that would ensure transparency and accountability and manage the high expectations of Ghanaians in the sector.

"We are all happy about the discovery of oil and gas, but I do not want Ghanaians to think that with that discovery, we are no longer going to depend on Official Development Assistance."

He said government is rolling out a new decentralisation programme that would place 40 departments under the district assemblies to identify their challenges and find local solutions to them. Mr Ishac Diwan, Country Director of World Bank said although Ghana is performing well in most of the MDGs, there is the need to step up activities in sanitation, child and maternal mortality in the country. He called for accountability and transparency in the management of government resources to ensure rapid economic development. Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning announced that issues such as sound micro-economy, transparency and accountability, capacity building at all levels, action and collaboration on development projects would be intensified in the future to ensure good management of resources. 27 Sept. 10