Professor Mike Ocquaye lament Ghana's import dependence
Ghanaians reel under economic crunch
Former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye, has expressed concern over the country’s overreliance on imports to supplement its needs.
Speaking at the launch of the 60th-anniversary celebration of the Department Of Political Science at the University of Ghana on Friday, July 22, Professor Mike Ocquaye noted that the country’s development has not been smooth citing the current economic challenges.
He lamented the situation where European countries continued exporting their finished products onto the Ghanaian market.
The former member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya wondered if citizens will be left to perish if there is a truncation in the supply of these products.
“It is important to use our studies in political economy, international and comparative politics to critique our national maldevelopment. Covid and Ukraine war etc have hit us very badly…yes. But it is important to observe that what we are experiencing today are merely symptomatic.
“An economy which is over 70% import-dependent is no economy. The colonial relationship was essentially one of the producers of raw materials vis-à-vis producers of finished products being dumped on us. How has this changed? We all know that the answer has not changed.
“If a global pandemic worse than Covid should arise or a global war bigger than Ukraine arises and no ship comes into our ports for over one year or two, and for that matter, the sugar, flour, rice indomie, cooking oil, etc do not enter our nation anymore shall we merely die? It is a question worthy to answer,” Professor Mike Ocquaye said.
Ghana is currently experiencing an economic downturn that has led to increased cost of living and fuel price hikes.
The prevailing challenges has compelled the government to initiate contacts with the International Monetary Fund.
While citizens reel under the pressures of the economy, the government has partly been blaming the ravages of Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war as causative factors for the economic crunch.
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DS/SARA
Former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye