A former Trade and Industry Minister, Robert Ahomka says the government must take aggressive actions to encourage the country’s entrepreneurs.
According to him, Ghana is losing many of its entrepreneurs and business people to other countries due to lack of support.
Speaking on the fourth-week forum of the Citi Business Festival on Citi TV, he said the consistent migration of entrepreneurs and skilled labour out of the country is affecting Ghana’s ability to achieve sustained economic growth.
He said there is the need for an apolitical drive towards supporting local businesses to thrive in order to propel the growth of the economy.
“There is brain drain, and we are losing skilled people. We have lost a bit of momentum. This is not a debate about NDC or NPP. This is Ghana. We need to start having this discussion. If we keep importing, we will keep having problems. We have to support our entrepreneurs. We have to make tough decisions,” he said.
Among other things, he suggested that the government should direct major manufacturing companies to source materials from local companies, and reduce the country’s dependence on imports.
He said while the 1D1F programme by the government will address part of the problem, a comprehensive plan by the government must be developed for promoting local businesses and entrepreneurs for the next two decades.
“Too much of the economy of Ghana is not in the hands of Ghana… Let’s encourage manufacturers to not only manufacture more, but also source raw materials locally to ensure that the fiscal and monetary policies that we put together have an impact on our market. That is what we have to start doing. This is for the next two and three decades with a comprehensive plan,” he added.