By Francis Ameyibor
Tema, Jan. 10, GNA-The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has said revamping industrial sectors, particularly Ghanaian-owned companies, through strategic state policies will be critical in sustaining the 24-hour economy and transforming the country suggested by former President John Dramani Mahama.
Mr. Abraham Koomson, Secretary General of the Federation, said the next administration in 2025 must hit the ground running and revitalise local industry to attain long-term wealth and contribute to the local economy’s progress. “The country cannot speed its development by relying on foreign firms.
“All developed and emerging economies have used industrialization as the key driver of modernization; Ghana cannot develop based on the importation of basic goods that can be produced locally,” he said.
Mr. Koomson, who was analysing the labour front in 2024 and projections for the next government in 2025 at the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Industrial News Hub Boardroom Dialogue platform, stated that empowering the local industry would strengthen local trade and create job opportunities, while exports of local goods would increase in terms of quality and quantity.
The GNA-Tema Industrial News Hub Boardroom platform is a weekly media think-tank platform that allows state, non-governmental, and commercial operators to connect with the rest of the world about national-interest problems.
Mr. Koomson maintained that no country had developed from a ‘buying and selling’ policy because you destroy your local economy, adding that “no country has ever become richer by exporting raw materials without adding value to them and also by having a local industry virtually at the intensive care units”.
He added that the future government should broaden the tax base and lessen the burden on the wealthy; “the government must be proactive to create an enabling environment for small to medium enterprises and create synergy between the private and public sectors to play their respective roles effectively.”
Mr. Koomson observed that many industries are suffocating under the current economic structure, which is burdened with unnecessary levies, limited marketing options, and an over concentration of industries in urban areas.
He said Ghana could not create jobs without a strong manufacturing base and an industrialised economy, and that the next government must empower the productive sector to aid in the country’s transformation and implement strategic policies to exploit the country’s resources to boost the local economy.
The GFL Secretary General noted: “We can survive in the manufacturing industry if there is a conscious effort to boost the local industry to grow.”
The GFL Secretary General also urged all political parties to launch a policy-focused electoral campaign free of insults, character assassination, and unneeded political polarisation.
Mr Koomson argued that Election 2024 should be a contest of the finest comprehensive ideas, not insults, and urged the Electoral Commission to reduce incidences of bad public perception of neutrality.
GNA