A year ago
John Dramani Mahama, the former president, has urged the government to create a special programme to aid in the growth of local production capabilities for a chosen few goods in substitution of imports.
He advised against prohibiting the importation of such goods using foreign exchange.
The former president explained that if there was not a complementary effort to produce several products locally in the short future, such as rice, vegetable oil, toothpaste, fruit juice, bottled water, and ceramic tiles, the country may see significant price hikes fueled by shortages.
The former president Mahama said at the seventh Ghana CEO Network Business Cocktail in Accra on Thursday that if you don't produce enough locally but restrict access to foreign exchange, it will raise the price of these things.
leading CEOs
A cost of living crisis: What does inflation actually mean for Ghanaian businesses? was the topic of this year's cocktail hour.
More than 200 of the nation's top CEOs and business leaders from a range of industries attended the event to network and exchange ideas about how to better market their companies in the upcoming year.
It is a project of the Ghana CEO Network, in collaboration with the University of Ghana, the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), accounting and advising firm Deloitte (UG).
Major lessons
The event's special guest of honour, Mr. Mahama, said that the country needs to concentrate more on local production of import alternatives and assist the transformation of the food security system in light of the recent trend in inflation.
In the shortest amount of time, he claimed, the self-sufficient ratio of rice production, along with other staples, must be bridged.
That was the case, Mr. Mahama continued, because it was believed that the nation imported food items worth over $3 billion annually.
According to him, doing so would help to boost local production, assure food security, and preserve foreign cash that could have been used to purchase imports.
"We must also look into measures to encourage more locally produced import alternatives and diversify our exports. Such prospects ought to be available on the market that our efforts at regional integration have produced.
The majority of you, he said, "are businesses, and I'm sure you're thinking about the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the opportunity it represents for enterprises."
Total Comments: 0