IT is gratifying that a number of countries and the investor community are expressing interest and growing confidence in Ghana’s economy. The latest to say so loud and clear is Britain, Ghana’s biggest trading partner over the decades.
At a reception to mark the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II in Accra last Wednesday, the British High Commissioner, Dr Nicholas Westcott, said, among other things, that the confidence in the country’s economy was buoyed by the number of British companies doing business in Ghana and the interest shown by more British firms to do business in the country.
According to the High Commissioner, Land Rover would relaunch itself on the Ghanaian market with its latest and best products in May and a few days later, Virgin Atlantic would also launch its first service between the Heathrow and the Kotoka airports.
This is good news, especially against the backdrop of the financial crisis that recently hit the global community, as well as the fierce competition one has to go through in order to attract foreign investors.
Indeed, last year was a rather difficult one for the country, as it was faced with high lending rates, considered as one of the key reasons for low business confidence.
However, after prudent measures had been put in place, expectations of an improved economy became a reality rather than a mirage. Today, Ghana can relatively boast a stabilised currency and an economy which is moving in the right direction and on a positive track.
Of course, there are still the challenges of unemployment, high interest rates and an uncompetitive foreign exchange regime.
But the good thing is that since the beginning of the year, inflation has persistently dropped, recording 13.32 per cent as of March, as well as a drop in the prime rate, forcing interest rates down marginally.
As a country, the journey to the “promised land” is still far away but we can get there through hard work and sacrifice.
It is true that some countries have overcome economic difficulties through the support of the donor community. The Marshall Plan is a case in point, but Ghana can ride the storm through reliance on its own human and material resource.
In this age of globalisation, it makes no sense to attempt to practise autarky because Ghana is not an island unto itself. We can leverage the positive attributes of globalisation such as free trade and the free movement of people and harmonise the tax regime to rebuild our economy.
Ghana has comparative advantage over many of the countries in the sub-region because it produces large tonnes of cocoa, gold, bauxite and non-traditional exports. Luckily, we have been blessed with oil and gas that will attract many investors to our land.
The Daily Graphic believes that despite the challenges, there are greater opportunities that people can exploit to improve incomes and livelihoods. We, therefore, plead with the government and its economic management team to remain focused on the plans to put the economy on a sound footing.
But to do that, the government must tackle the challenges that make it difficult for our financial institutions to reduce their interest rates to be at par with the drop in the policy (prime) rate.
The Daily Graphic commends the government for the success so far but adds that for the way forward, it must not only target a single digit inflation but the efforts must be geared towards the policy that will stimulate growth, create jobs and improve the incomes of all working people.
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