When Ghanaians are paid in local cedis but purchase everything in dollars, no amount of dollars pumped into circulation will suffice. Cut down on imports to save the cedi…. mansa musa writes ✍️
Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah saw, knew, and understood the importance of heavy and light industry, hence his decision to embark on electrification and the building of various industrial plants and factories. The idea was that colonial pre-independence trade was predominantly in the hands of foreign merchants, mainly from Syria, Lebanon, and India.
They had a monopoly on the importation of goods into the Gold Coast and later Ghana, and they controlled the prices of goods. Osagyefo, in his unique wisdom, unique from many, if not all, of his compatriots, knew that in order to have control of a sovereign economy, it was imperative to produce and manufacture more locally rather than rely on imports.
Fast forward to after Osagyefo’s overthrow, he still warned us even when in exile in Conakry to be wary of agitators against local industrialisation. He reminded those who accused him, people like today’s John Agyekum Kufuor who favoured imports from abroad to sell locally. In the end, Kufuor and others in the *Old UP tradition* won, and the result today is that Ghanaians have grown to love trading in what we do not produce.
At this stage, we can go back to Sankofa and boldly embrace Nkrumah’s ideas and ideals — not just in words, but through a serious revival of the industrialisation drive and the strong-willed implementation of agricultural policy initiatives. The plan should be to produce everything we eat in Ghana, and this can be realised within the next couple of years. Local and ECOWAS regional entrepreneurs should be encouraged and supported to invest in heavy-duty industries and agriculture.
Enough of begging European investors to come in when, in the end, they take out more than they bring in. The hundreds of items imported into Ghana should be reduced by a quarter within the next three years and by half within five to ten years. This can be achieved if we have a strong and determined government of the day.
It is only when the culture is reversed from an import-driven economy to one of local reliance that we can reduce our attachment and overreliance on the American dollar. It is only when the local currency becomes strong enough in the hands of Ghanaians that stronger purchasing power will help ease financial pressure and improve living standards, similar to what is experienced in advanced countries.
We can do it. Obibini nso yɛ nipa.
