Coronavirus presents an opportunity despite the threats - Akufo-Addo

President Akufo-Addo has posited that Ghana’s economy is too dependent on foreign-made things across the board of our national life.

Addressing captains of the pharmaceutical companies at the Jubilee House today, Monday, March 16, 2020, the president said we are far too dependent on imported goods.

He was of the view that we should be making most of the things ourselves.

The outbreak of the coronavirus he noted presents the nation with an opportunity despite the consequences and threats.

The president said he called the meeting so the leaders in the industry will deliberate on ways forward for our country.

President Akufo-Addo had earlier hinted that his government was engaging with the domestic pharmaceutical industry to assist in the measures aimed at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Delivering an address to the nation on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the President explained that, with the declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) of the Coronavirus disease as “a pandemic”, it is important that Ghana steps up her preparedness to ensure that, beyond the initial measures that have been put in place, a ‘whole of Ghana’ approach is adopted in preparation for a possible hit within the country’s borders.



“Indeed, we must take advantage of this crisis to strengthen our domestic productive capacity, so we can advance our self-reliance, and reduce our dependence on foreign imports. Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention,” he added.

For Ghana to become a properly functioning economy, the president asked that we depend on our ingenuity and hard work. That is the only way we can build a viable nation, the president stressed.