Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Mr Kojo Pumpuni Asante, has asked Ghanaians to prepare for a tough year.
He said happenings in Euporie as well as governance and security challenges in the West African sub-region will have dire consequences on the local economy. Hence his admonishing to Ghanaians to prepare.
Mr Asante also asked the government to put in place measures to overcome the collages ahead.
“We have to brace ourselves for a tough 2022. Noises about war or actual war in Europe plus governance and security challenges in West Africa will bring significant external shocks to the economy.
“Citizens must show resilience and government must govern well if we are to overcome,” he tweeted on Monday February 21.
His other colleague Civil society activist, Mr Franklin Cudjoe who is the Founding President of Imani Africa has also asked the Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who is also the Head of the Economic Management Team, to account for what caused the local economy to plummet and also provide solutions to deal with the situation.
In the view of Mr Cudjoe, Dr Bawumia’s political future largely depends on the solutions he proposes to stabilize the economy hence, the need for him to speak.
“It is important our Veep, Dr Bawumia tells us what went wrong with our apparent buoyant economy and what can be done to save it. His political future depends on it,” Franklin Cudjoe said in a Facebook post.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had during his Christmas Message to the nation blamed the woes of the economy on the pandemic.
He said that the pandemic has affected every sector of the global economy and national life, visiting its ravages on virtually everything.
He said “Fellow Ghanaians, I know these are difficult times for us. Undoubtedly, 2021 has proven to be a tough year not only for us, but also for everyone on the planet. COVID-19 has affected every sector of the global economy and our national life; nothing, in its path, has been spared its ravages.
“Our economy, which was growing at an average of 7% in 2017, in 2018 and in 2019, grew by 0.4% in 2020, because growth in industry, services, tourism and manufacturing sectors, which drive the economy and provide jobs for many Ghanaians, contracted dramatically in 2020, as a result of the sudden disruption in the global supply chain and the steep decline in the global economy, which sent the global economy into recession.
“This is the stark reality of the situation, not an excuse. Indeed, but for the bold and timely measures put in place by Government to cushion Ghanaians against the worst effects of the pandemic, our situation would have been more precarious.
“For the purposes of propaganda and narrow partisan and parochial interests, some would have you believe that the difficulties we are facing are purely Ghanaian phenomena, made by the NPP government under my leadership. Pay no heed to such persons. They know the truth, but cannot speak it.
“The significant fact for me is my determination to pull us out of this situation. Government has designed a solid programme for the recovery and revitalisation of the economy, which is the one hundred-billion-cedi Ghana CARES ‘Obaatampa’ Programme. We have completed the implementation of the Stabilisation Phase in 2021, which saw the economy grow at 6.6% in the 3rd quarter of 2021, with a projected overall growth of 4.4% for 2021. 2022 and 2023 will be the years of Recovery and Revitalisation and faster economic growth. Already, there are clear signs that the economy is bouncing back strongly, just as there are welcome indications that the global economy is also recovering.
“The work undertaken by my government, over the last five (5) years, in education, healthcare delivery, agricultural and industrial transformation, infrastructural enhancement, especially in the road sector, the empowerment of the security services, and the development of the digital economy, amongst others, is evident. I appeal to you to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with my government in these trying times.
“You have stood with me most of my adult life; you gave me a resounding victory in 2016, and you returned me to office again, with the help of God, with another decisive victory in 2020, because I fulfilled, largely, the commitments I made to you in 2016. United in our democracy, we will emerge from this difficult patch stronger and even more resilient. Let us not see the economic difficulties of today as the blueprint for tomorrow. I am a firm, passionate believer in our national potential. We have it in us to rise up and revive our fortunes. There are brighter days ahead for Mother Ghana.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana