Africa needs growth with DEPTH — Dr Amoako
The president of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) Dr KY Amoako says Africa can only transform through diversified production with a competitive export market coupled with an increased productivity and upgraded technology.
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According to him this should be underpinned with an improved human well-being adding that such a practical policy agenda which he described at DEPTH will help Africa’s public and private sectors address institutional barriers that hamper the continent’s sustained growth.
He lamented that the brakes have been put on Africa’s seeming rapid development witnessed in the early 90s and has worsened further in the past twenty years due to lack of planning and consistency.
“Africa’s transformation has been constrained due to lack of planning, vision and consistency,’ he remarked.
Answering questions on a myriad of economic issues facing Ghana and Africa in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) educative dialogue programme dubbed the ‘Hekima Series’ at the UNDP office in Accra last Wednesday, Dr Amoako noted that Africa’s development have been very depressing over the last two decades based on parameters set by his outfit ACET.
“On our parameters, we are not doing enough, we seem to have retrogressed over the past twenty years, transformation is a long term process underscored with consistency and stability, but Africa has been going back and forth,” he told a gathering of business leaders, entrepreneurs at the dialogue.
Ghana not faring well
Dr Amoako bemoaned the inconsistency and lack of vision bedeviling Ghana’s economic growth and called for a re-look at the 1992 constitution.
“Ghana goes back and forth, some aspects of the current constitution is not fit for purpose; there is no consistency with successive governments in developing the country, among the continent we are not faring well, in 2025 when there is a new administration that will be a second quarter of the 21st century and we have a huge debt problem and a fiscal regime that makes us go to the IMF at every turn,” he stated.
He also attributed some of the country’s problems to how polarized we have become politically and urged the nation’s leaders to transcend beyond political polarisation.
“In Europe and America they are also polarized politically to some extent but their institutions rise beyond such political polarisations , why can’t we do same,” he queried.
He called for the re-integration of our societal values into our leadership system and challenged leaders to imbibe the sense of Accountability.
Hekima Accra
The dialogue which was christened Hekima Accra is a UNDP programme that features influential Africans that converge and discuss topics on economy, sports, arts, entrepreneurship for the benefit of the continent.
‘Hekima’ A Swahili language which mean Wisdom hopes to leverage on the knowledge and wisdom of African for the betterment of the continent.