Government is focused on moving Ghana beyond aid – Bawumia

Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated government’s efforts and determination in moving the country beyond the reliance on foreign support or aid.

This follows the President’s comment on moving Africa beyond aid at an event hosted by the Royal African Society in London on November 21 stating that "Africa shall move beyond aid and its people would work to make the continent prosperous and a dynamic member of the world community”.

Dr. Bawumia speaking at the grand opening ceremony of the Danish-Ghana Business Conference today, November 23 at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel in Accra said government primarily focuses is to move the country beyond aid which is based on the 2018 budget the Finance Minister read in Parliament.

“Our aspiration to move Ghana beyond aid was echoed by the Finance Minister when he presented the 2018 budget. We are focused on this conversation and what government has been doing in the past eleven months is to demonstrate our commitment to change”.

According to the Vice President, moving Ghana beyond aid will be by mobilizing and leveraging domestic savings and revenues transparently, expanding financial inclusion with credit service and saving systems for all and financing through local capital markets in local currencies.

And investing in people through capacity building with a focus on access to quality education and encouraging entrepreneurs and small businesses to thrive in the economic sector will help government achieve its aim.

The Vice President maintained government’s vision of promoting the private sector indicating that his government assumed office at a time the economy was faced with challenges and will do everything humanly possible to move the country beyond aid by further focusing on trade and investments.

“We assumed office at the time the economy was facing challenges but we set clear vision to say that we need to promote the private sector. We need to improve the business environment. If you look at what we are trying to do, if you want to move beyond aid it means necessarily that you must focus on trade and investments...and that is essentially what we are trying to do,” he said.