Ghana’s production and export of raw materials, including cocoa beans, will soon be a thing of the past.
President Akufo-Addo, who disclosed this, said that was the best way government could help place Ghana at the high end of the value chain in the global market place, and create jobs for the teeming Ghanaian masses.
He was speaking at the Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation, in Bern, Switzerland, as part of a two-day state visit to the country, the first in 60 years by a Head of State from sub-Saharan Africa.
According to him, Ghana intends to process more and more of its cocoa, with the aim of producing more chocolate, “because we believe there can be no future prosperity for the Ghanaian people, in the short, medium or long term if we continue to maintain economic structures that are dependent on the production and export of raw materials.”
He spoke about government’s resolve “to add value to our raw materials, industrialize and enhance agricultural productivity.” While serving notice to Swiss investors of the growing business-friendly climate in Ghana, the President urged them to take advantage of Ghana’s unique position as host of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to set-up joint venture enterprises in our country, and, thereby, access this huge market that the free trade area presented.
Commenting on his administration’s landmark achievements since it assumed power, he noted, “We have succeeded, over the last three years, in ensuring that all our macroeconomic indices are pointing in the right direction; cut our fiscal deficit; introduced a monetary policy that was stabilising the currency and reducing significantly the cost of borrowing; and have introduced a raft of tax cuts which are bringing relief to and encouraging businesses.”
President Akufo-Addo said such achievements had seen Ghana recording an annual GDP average growth rate of seven per cent since 2017, making it consistently one of the world’s fastest growing economies during the period.
“We have one of the most business-friendly economies in Africa, evidenced in our status as the largest recipient of foreign direct investment in West Africa,” the President said.
Additionally, President Akufo-Addo told Members of the Federal Council that Ghana has also been selected to host the secretariat of the AfCFTA, a market of some 1.2 billion people, with a combined GDP of three trillion dollars.
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