Ghana needs to own its economy – Chartered Economist

Economist and Analyst Emmanuel Amoah-Darkwah, has posited that foreign businesses benefit the most from the growth of Ghana’s economy because they control a bigger percentage of the economy.

Mr Amoah-Darkwah also emphasized that the profits from our economy hardly remain within the country since most are owned by outsiders, and that hinders the growth of the economy.

He, however, believes that Ghanaians can only benefit from the growth of the economy if Ghanaians themselves drive the economy.

Mr Amoah-Darkwah noted that to achieve this, it is imperative that government develops the agricultural and manufacturing sectors which will improve the value of the economy.

He made this suggestion in connection with the concern raised by the Catholic Bishops Conference that the level of poverty in the country has become high due to the corrupt actions of political actors.

Speaking on the Happy Morning Show, he told Samuel Eshun: “According to the recent Ghana Statistical survey on poverty in Ghana, the comments by the Catholic Bishops affirms the report. This means there is a lacuna in general living standards of Ghanaians, in terms of health, access to education which government policies should be able to address. We shouldn’t be fixated on the macro figures, but more importantly how these numbers help the country lift a lot of people from poverty.”

Mr Amoah-Darkwah believes the economic growth rate statistics should be impactful on the lives of Ghanaians, rather than mere numbers, and as such, policies are instrumental in improving the narrative about poverty in the country.

“Employment is one of the ways to help bring people out of poverty. Giving people employment brings them a source of livelihood, however, has the so-called economic growth led to the creation of jobs we need in the economy.

The country’s economy lies within three categories, that include agriculture, manufacturing and services. The service sector leads largely the growth of the economy over the last 10 years. Unfortunately, Ghanaians are not dominant within that sector, looking at the banking sector, telecommunication, insurance among others.”

The economist has thus charged the government to review the policies and focus more on improving the challenges of the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.