Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta
While we underrate ourselves and act pessimist, in imaging gloom and doom for our country, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has disclosed that Ghana’s previous image of money laundering has improved to one of dignity and regard.
Ghana had been on the international community’s ‘grey list’ as ‘suspect’ in dubious continental money transactions outside official systems and monitoring mechanisms.
That spells danger for any country hoping to access development and partnership support from the international financial institutions and development agencies.
Additionally, that is a disincentive for investors to move in because of the huge risks involved.
Redeemed
As the Finance Minister pointed out in a press conference last Wednesday, owing to a robust restructuring of our financial sector, including sanitisation of the banking sector, Ghana’s credibility has soared not only as a serious economy and among the fastest growing economies, but also a world development, business and trade partner.
As a result of that previous bad image, Ghana, according to the Finance Minister, was given some homework to do and submit a plan to correct deficiencies in the relevant sectors or be blacklisted. And the country has passed the test successfully, thanks to the prudent policies spearheaded by the Finance Minister.
As a result of the prudent management of the country’s banking and financial sector, a major state bank has been able to make tremendous progress by posting substantial profit in a COVID-19 economy. With hopes that others would follow suit, the suspicions about rot in our banking system and the need to tidy up have been justified by the announcement of a clean bill of health for Ghana as a player in the world’s money market.
Expected gains
As the Minister affirmed, as a result of the hard work that had gone into planning and developing strategies to further strengthen the structures of governance, Ghana received the green light away from the ‘grey list’ to join the league of clean nations doing clean business and therefore deserving of the support of the international community, as a credible state.
Only days ago, the President commissioned a plant that would be producing Toyota cars for local consumption and export, all as part of the gains that serious nations enjoy in maintaining robust and tidy structures that enhance governance and facilitate development goals.
With the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre also poised to rake in foreign direct investments of over $3 billion, there is hope that more than fixing the economy, government’s programme of sustaining initiatives aimed at improving lives and livelihoods will be richly enhanced.
Securing peace and security
As Ghana stands on this pedestal of hope, it is the prayer of the Daily Statesman that those who aspire to govern this nation, those who have been given the mandate to run this nation, as well as actors in the sphere of civil society activity, traditional and religious bodies, among others, would unite in securing peace and harmony to support our development agenda.
It is also our hope that the youth, to whom the future belongs, will position themselves away from noise to responsibility, in equipping themselves to take over from the current stock of leaders at the right time to sustain the gains and hand over to the succeeding generations.
Ghana is working again, and it is only the mischievous, self-seeking, misled and disgruntled elements among us who will deny that fact.
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