Veep opens grand Danish Business Conference in Accra

Ghana's Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has on Thursday opened a grand Danish-Ghana Business Conference in Accra, with a call on the business community home and abroad, to be the leading investors if to achieve a sustainable development.

Speaking on the theme: “Ghana Beyond Aid: Moving Forward Together”, Dr. Bawumia said : “It is all too evident that current financial flows and investment patterns certainly in Africa are not likely to deliver on the financing needed to attain sustainable development needs”.

He said it is the desire of President Nana Akufo-Addo aspiration and Ghana’s aspiration, to change the status quo and the conversation around aid.

"Our aspirations to move Ghana Beyond Aid was echoed by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta when he presented the 2018 Budget now before Parliament for debate. We are focused on this conversation and what government has been doing in the past 11 months demonstrate our commitment for change."

“We want to build a Ghana which looks to the use of its own resources and their proper management as the way to engineer social and economic growth in our country...”

“We need an innovative and integrated policy framework that mobilizes and effectively uses all sources of finance – public, private, domestic and external should be the pathway to financing our development”.

According to Vice president Dr. Bawumia, government has chosen a strategic shift and “we want to build a Ghana which looks to the use of its own resources and their proper management as the way to engineer social and economic growth in our country…”

For him, a Ghana beyond aid means mobilizing and leveraging domestic savings and revenues transparently; expand financial inclusion with credit services and saving systems for all, especially women; and financing through local capital markets in local currencies.

He said a Ghana beyond aid also means where domestic resource mobilization is enhanced through higher private savings and higher government revenues raised in a more efficient and equitable manner and where there is resolute efficiency and accountability in the use of all public resources.

“It means investing in people and building the capacity of the next generation of citizens, including access to quality education to building their overall capacity for innovation and knowledge. It means encouraging entrepreneurs, small business, private investment, and innovation,” he added.

“If you’re moving beyond aid, then it is to trade and investment and that is essentially what we are trying to do. In moving to trade and investment you want to set the business environment that will allow you to do exactly that. Without a conducive business environment you are not going to make it and this is why we set about very quickly trying to make sure that the macro-economy is stable”. That's according to Veep Bawumia.

He said government is optimistic “going forward about Ghana. The possibilities for me are endless, if we all put our minds to it. The private-public partnership frameworks are being put together and we believe that the sky really is the limit if we put our acts together”.