Cedi depreciation: Government must invest in food production – Dr. Atuahene

Banking Consultant, Dr. Richmond Atuahene says the government can save the fast depreciation of Ghana’s cedi by broadening the economy and investing in the private sector heavily for food production.

Speaking on Morning Starr with Francis Abban, the Banking Consultant stated that the government can learn from Nigeria on how they have reduced rice importation among others.

“We need a National Strategic Economic Diversification Policy, the reason I am saying this is that all the things you’ve just said whether it’s 1D1F, how are they going to improve the sector? Any time you create an enabling environment for the private sector to go into that, that is where you get results.

“Unfortunately, we turn to publicize it as if it’s going to work until we come to the strategy that the Nigerians use to address the rice production, we won’t get to where we are going. Because immediately the politicians come in we just make it look good,” Mr. Atuahene stated.

He also advised the government to invest in huge farms that are doing well in the country to boost the economy.

“So our institutions like the Development Bank and Exim Bank are supposed to target these people (farmers) for future growth. Because Development Banks in other jurisdictions are used to support economic diversification. We create the institutions but the institutions do not function to support the economy,” Dr. Atuahene lamented.

The Bank Consultant further stated that successive governments have concentrated on cocoa production for years now and have failed to target other production like maize among others.

“How haven’t we talked about even going into maize, common maize, we haven’t. We create institutions but instead of you getting to the private sector, identifying them, and giving them the task with low interest rates and good facilities, value chain issues. If we do that we stand a better chance."

“But the way we are going, it is not integrated, it is becoming a piecemeal approach. We should have a national discourse on this economic diversification. Identify products with a competitive advantage maize, tomatoes, and onions all these can be produced without importation.

“Nobody looks at it, so all that I am saying is that we should as a nation have a national discourse on this economic diversification. Nigeria used to import rice to about 10 to 20 billion but today it does a little to about 2 to 3 billion. We import rice every year 1.2 billion. If Nigeria can grow rice can’t we grow rice in Ghana, why?” he quizzed.