According to Nana Osei Bonsu, CEO of the Private Enterprise Federation, the current conflict in Ukraine could be viewed as a chance to expand Ghana's private sector, particularly in the fields of agricultural and food production.
He believes that the Russian embargo on Ukrainian wheat exports during the conflict is the ideal time for the local private sector to intervene and offer an alternative solution—or grain—to meet the local demand for baking flour.
He said on JoyNews' PM Express Business Edition that local bakers may move to locally produced sorghum, maize, or cassava flour for their baking requirements rather than relying on imported wheat.
The local business sector is struggling, but the conflict between Ukraine and Russia presents a chance for the local privately owned. Why? Basically because everyone is complaining about how the supply of wheat and other grains is being reduced, but we have a variety of grains that can take the place of wheat.
"Our Christmas hampers were made out of bread, cookies, and all the baking ingredients from sorghum, soybean, cassava, and corn, and they tasted precisely the same," he claimed. "I was the CEO of the Private Enterprise Federation for one year."
He continued by saying that this was a great chance for the government to implement a rule requiring that all baked goods contain a certain amount of local grains.
"Instead of focusing on what isn't coming in, the government could use this as a chance to establish a rule that every baking product sold in Ghana must be possess a portion of the regional cereals. The law is that.
"Everyone will change if you do that, and farms and bakeries will both benefit from the opportunities that result. Instead of us sitting around and saying, "Oh this doesn't come in therefore we're not going to be able to accomplish that," he continued, "the government must employ these instruments."
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