Government to rely on local consultants

The government is now placing emphasis on the use of Ghanaian or other African consultants and experts on projects funded by external donors instead of non- African foreign experts, writes Janet Quainoo in the Daily Graphic.

Consequently, the Ministry of Finance has compiled a list of Ghanaian social scientists, resident in and out of the country and who are equally competent and efficient as their foreign counterparts.

This was made known by Mr Victor Selormey, Deputy Minister of Finance when he opened the second Technical Co-operation among Developing Countries African Focal Points meeting in Accra.

Mr Selormey said Ghana's quota on all international organisations have been filled by Ghanaians and this goes to show how capable Ghanaians could be. He said Ghana's experience has shown that the use of local experts can save developing countries from the high expenditure on foreign consultants while giving local experts, trained at the expense of the tax payer, the chance to assist in the developmental efforts of their countries.

Mr A. M. Dirar, Director of the Economic and Development Co-operation Division of the OAU, pointed out that African countries are rich in resources and that "only when we muster the political will to co-operate and work together will we be able to take charge of our department"