Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has called for a deliberate shift from importing fully finished goods to breaking imports down and gradually building local production.
According to her, Ghana must begin identifying aspects of goods currently imported that can be produced locally, even if it starts with only one component, as a pathway to job creation and long-term economic benefits.
Speaking during a working visit to the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry on December 19, the Vice President questioned Ghana’s heavy reliance on finished imports, using locally transportation system known as the aboboyaa (tricycle) as an example.
“What are the parts? Is there one thing we can do? Must we get the finished products or is there something we can contribute. Even if it’s just one small item, we can add another and another, and before you know we are making the whole thing,” she said.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang warned against an import culture that leaves no room for local value addition.
“You can’t import the car, and then the tyre and everything. What else are we going to import next?” she asked.
She further highlighted the employment opportunities in full value chains, citing sugar production as an example.
“With the production of sugar, if you go by the entire value chain, from clearing the land to planting, to harvesting, to cutting, to the whole process from the factory to even packaging and distribution. You can’t count the number of jobs you create.”
While acknowledging that Ghana may, in the short term, rely on backward integration due to urgent needs, the Vice President stressed the importance of planning how to transition into local production.
“Even if as a matter of urgency, for lack of better expression, we’re going to use a backwards integration of the economy, still we should keep an eye on how we’re going to start, because that will give us more benefits.”
She also urged regulatory institutions, particularly the Ghana Standards Authority, to play a supportive role in strengthening local industry.
“The standards board people should be interested in them, to find ways of supporting them so they can also do their work well.”
“Giving them the support they need, getting them the right training, the right equipment and the right evaluation systems, I think will also help them. There’s no point creating unnecessary pressure on anyone, we’re looking at efficiency,” she added.
