Dr. Amoah calls for thorough assessment before Ghana signs international trade agreements
The Lowdown is hosted by Ismail Akwei airs on GhanaWeb TV every Monday
Ghanaian business mogul, Dr. Kofi Amoah has averred that international free trade agreements could have dire consequences on young entrepreneurs if not properly assessed.
He said the decision of the government to open Ghana’s market to a free trade agreement needs to be reviewed.
According to Dr. Kofi Amoah, this issue needs to be addressed urgently since it borders on the growth of the local economy.
Speaking on the recent episode of The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV hosted by Nii Akwei Ismail Akwei, Kofi Amoah noted that the opening of Ghana’s borders to foreign traders on the basis of free trade has the potential to be detrimental to the growth of young entrepreneurs in the country.
“Once we get into this discussion and we start talking about what the blockages are to Ghana’s economic growth, one of the areas that we have to look at is the free trade mantra. Where we have to open our borders; anybody from anywhere in the world can come and sell us anything at any price.
“When you do that, you are damaging the prospects for your local young entrepreneurs,” he said.
The founder of Progeny Ventures Inc. argued that foreign companies with the advantage of years and resources coming into the country to compete with local start-ups will most likely lead to the eventual failure of the local company.
Dr. Amoah who was speaking on the show on the topic “Missing links in Ghana’s jobs and wealth creation” urged Ghana to thoroughly assess the positives and negatives of any international trade agreement before signing on to it.
“China didn’t join the WTO (World Trade Organisation) that when you join, you can sell to anybody and anybody can sell to you. China decided when they were in their beginning stages that we don’t have anything to sell to anybody so we are not going to join. We will put our house together and learn how to do things, and when we think that our products are of good quality, the prices are good, we can compete in the international market then we open our doors.
“That’s exactly what they did and by the time they opened their doors, they were very competitive. They took over a lot of industries and they became rich,” he stated.
The Lowdown is a socio-political programme that addresses relevant issues and facts.
The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV shows on Mondays on YouTube.
