Ghana doing something good to attract Blair’s commendation

At the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos, Switzerland, the former Premier of the United Kingdom, Mr Tony Blair, passed a vote of confidence in the growth and economic achievements of the country.

At the Davos meeting which brought together many key players in the field of economics, politics, academia and charity, to discuss how to improve the state of the world, the former British Premier further called on global investment players to invest in the country.

Mr Blair, who was in office from 1997 to 2007, said with the excellent leadership of Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the country was demonstrating great determination to succeed and was taking the right steps.

“I scarcely come across a leader with clarity of vision and determination to succeed and someone so much into the instincts of his people,” the former Premier pointed out, and thanked President Akufo-Addo for his leadership skills.

For us, the endorsement from the British statesman is food for thought because in most cases, people, as Mr Blair affirmed, depending on where they stand or how they look at things, might see them differently.

Certainly, Ghana has moved on from its state at the time Mr Blair was in office, with all indicators pointing to a country that is poised for accelerated growth.

If for nothing at all Ghana has moved from a low-income country to a lower middle-income country with the prospects to achieve more socio-economic development.

We wish to reiterate the saying that the person who is treading the path does not know that the back is crooked. By that same measure someone who may be doing a good thing might have underrated his/her achievements.

Mr Blair’s commendation must resonate among the citizenry for us to acknowledge that we are doing something good and we must not rest on our oars.

Currently a number of policies (such as the Free Senior High School, distribution of ambulances to improve health care, as well as improvement in the industrial, agricultural, mining, automotive and private sectors among others) have been rolled out by the government to ensure sustained growth to make the country self-sufficient and to position ourselves strongly beyond aid.

The Daily Graphic is therefore content that Mr Blair spoke highly about the Ghana Beyond Aid concept. We agree that though we were proud about our partnership with the rest of the world, we needed to take those bold steps and move our multi-lateral relationship further to that of development cooperation and trade.

We wish to advise that irrespective of our political affiliations, once a project is for the benefit of the entire community, constituency or the nation at large, we all take it as our own and make it work. Those who will be handling the ambulances, for instance, must take good care of them and not misuse them. The Free SHS policy should encourage parents to send their children to school and we do not expect teachers to abuse the project.

Currently, the Secretariat of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will be based in Accra. It is important that we all conduct ourselves in a manner that will make it succeed.

Our behaviours should further confirm Mr Blair’s endorsement such that anytime he interacts with people around the world, there will be a sense that Ghana is on the move for people to want to be part of the success story because all of us have created an environment which is full of confidence.