Economic growth will be tough without strong branding – Helen Annan

Until Ghana has a strong brand, economic development will proceed at a very slow rate, former CEO of Brand Ghana, Helen Annan, has said.

She argued that nation branding was the missing link in Ghana’s development agenda. Speaking to host Dr Etse Sikanku on Class FM’s World Affairs on Friday, March 17, Ms Annan said until Ghana establishes a solid brand, it would be impossible for the country to sustain economic growth.

“The branding aspect of nation branding has to be there and working before you can achieve economic development, which in Ghana we call ‘money in your pocket’. That money in your pocket will never happen until the social development programme reaches a certain level,” she said.

Contributing to the discussion, Senior PRO at the Ghana Tourism Authority, Kojo Bentum-Williams, said it was essential for Ghana to project what the country was known for and not to create a totally new concept.

“You can still use who you are to position well to your advantage and not necessarily trying to create something you feel will represent what the world should know you to be,” he explained.

For him, Ghana should use its strong points to communicate to the rest of the world and attract investments through that.

On his part, a lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Dr Kobby Mensah, called for consensus building in establishing a proper brand for the country.

“If you want to have a national conversation, you send maybe surveys out there to ask people: ‘Who do you think we are?’ You can have some ideas and then work around it. It is not for you to create and get us buying it. I think that is a wrong way to do it,” he noted.

He advocated “consensus building” to arrive on the most preferred brand identity.