Ghana’s presidential aspirants called to prioritise human capital

Dr. Ishmael Nii Dodoo, a former Special Policy Advisor to the UN Secretary General’s Adviser for the Sahel, has offered a political opinion, ahead of Ghana’s general election on December 7, stating that a human capital strategy should be a top priority for any candidate running for president of the West African nation.

By 2050, much of the human resource required by various investors and organizations would be sought in Africa, according to the diplomat; requiring the need for Ghana to develop a human capital strategy to build its people with the requisite skills and knowledge.

He expressed a strong opinion that the country should see its geopolitical position as an added advantage to maximize the opportunities in the sub region.

“Ghana is positioned to be able to do this, we speak very good English and we have good infrastructure in terms of education. We should be able to construct a nation where our human capital that anybody that wants to set up a company should be thinking of setting a headquarters in Ghana,” said Dr. Nii Dodoo on a recent program hosted by Joy News Live in Ghana, and monitored by TheAfricanDream.net.

“Ghanaians are very smart people so if we leverage this and invest very well, if we believe that this country would become one that you cannot imagine”.

He mentioned that the country is not doing well in the area of industrialization, and many of the factories established by Ghana’s First President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah are currently defunct. Ghana is currently at a crossroad in terms of leadership said Dr. Nii Dodoo. He anticipates that the people would make the right choices in the 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary to help build the new crop of leaders that would emerge in years to come

“By 2028, if we see new faces coming into politics, we are going to see a transition and this is where I think it is important to have the leadership right at this particular Juncture. We are not just going to see a shift in our politics, we are going to see a shift in the realms of what Ghana stands for.”

The number of Ghanaians in the United Nations System continues to decline over the years especially in the area of senior positions. Touching on what could be accounting for that, Dr. Nii Dodoo said the country does not have a deliberate policy in that regard to strengthen the image of the country internationally.

“You have countries like Rwanda, the President engages in these sorts of things in terms of positions that are awarded to the United Nations system, the President would call to say this is my candidate for my country and look at how they are doing. We need to leverage this institution for our economic benefit.”

According to him, there is also the need for people to embrace learning other languages especially the French language to help them grab opportunities internationally.