Coronavirus has taught us not to always depend on foreign help - Ahomka-Lindsay

Deputy Trades Minister, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, has said it's about time Ghana focuses on producing goods locally to minimise the country's over-reliance on other countries for essential products in the wake of COVID-19.

In an interview with GhanaWeb at the Ghana Manufacturing Awards Saturday, July 4, 2020, he indicated that “The world has shown us that private sector is truly the engine of growth so we must make sure we give them the opportunity to excel”.

“What COVID is showing us is that we cannot rely totally on outside particularly for things like our pharmaceuticals and a lot of manufacturing,” the minister added.

According to Mr Ahomka-Lindsay, though it’s not the government’s role to run businesses in the country, it is their duty to provide a conducive environment for private sector businesses to flourish.

The nation would benefit from these firms when they expand in that, they would hire many people which would help alleviate the government's burden of high unemployment rate.

The Deputy Trades Minister said the provision of enabling environment for these private sectors forms part of government’s plans to industrialise the country.

This comment from the minister confirms the Ghana Union of Traders Association's allegation that the global pandemic has indeed exposed the deficiencies in the Ghanaian local manufacturing industry.

The GUTA president, Dr. Joseph Obeng, who made this assertion in an interview with GhanaWeb some months ago, added that Ghana's over-reliance on other countries for essential goods and services has been badly exposed.

Meanwhile, many Ghanaian local manufacturing industries have their goods locked up at the ports because of the technical challenges UNIP-PASS is fraught with.

Drugs, among other medical consumables, may witness a price hike in ensuing months should these pharmaceutical companies incur more cost on their goods as demurrages.