Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association, Samson Asaki Awingobit, has suggested that the resignation of President Akufo-Addo would have been in order after his failure to deliver on his Ghana Beyond Aid promise.
Awingobit explained that a country beyond aid should not be dependent on any external body for assistance, however, Ghana’s case is different. Speaking during a GIZ-IMANI reform dialogue on August 24, 2022, he said the inability of Ghana’s government to sustain the country by seeking aid has affected the country’s credibility and outlook on the global market.
“If I were the president, I’ll resign. Because the President said Ghana Beyond Aid, is IMF not an aid; you campaigned that Ghana Beyond Aid globally. It means you are sufficient, you don’t need IMF, or the World Bank to support you. Ghana Beyond Aid. It has cost us a lot,” he lamented.
Speaking further, he described the country’s flagship Planting for Food and jJobs programme as inefficient. According to him, the programme should be directed towards commercial farmers instead of peasant farmers who only own a small fraction of the food value chain.
“When the government brings the policy, it should be able to provide the machinery to be able to implement the policy. Planting for Food and Jobs is largely focused on peasant farmers instead of commercial farmers. We complain about the excessive importation in the country. We import tomatoes from Burkina Faso but these imports are from their commercialized farmers, not smallholder farmers,” Awingobit noted.
He pledged that the Importers and Exporters Association is willing to support manufacturers and producers in the agriculture value chain in order to increase exports.
“If we produce enough to be able to feed ourselves, the surplus, we can look for a market. AfCFTA is here but what can Ghana boast of as far as free trade is concerned? We don’t have it,” he intimated.
