To reduce our dependency on aid, it is fundamental to close the savings-investment gap by improving the productive capacity of the country, Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has stated.

He said the country should focus on investing in agriculture by making use of huge amount of fertile lands and reduce its dependency on imports.

The Vice President who was speaking at a conference dubbed “Ghana Beyond Aid” said agriculture is an “area where you can improve production and reduce the amount of money you need to import food”

He added that “moving beyond aid means investing in agriculture and this is why we’ve launched the planting for food and jobs programme this year largely on a pilot basis to improve productivity in agriculture”.

He noted that adding value to country’s minerals sector will also contribute to increasing the nation’s productive capacity adding that formalising the economy will also help raise domestic resources.

“We have to formalise this economy and I think that will help us mobilise resources, it will help businesses grow,” he said.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo earlier this year revealed that his government aims to build a Ghana beyond aid by building an economy that is not dependent on charity and handouts, but an economy that will look at the proper management of its resources as the way to engineer social and economic growth in our country.”

The ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ conference was organised through a partnership between the Royal Embassy of Netherlands, Embassy of Denmark and Norwegian Embassy.