Kojo Tamakloe

The failure of African entrepreneurism

The National Economic Forum has just come and gone. A lot of ink and hype as usual is being made about it. Of course optimists will hope it will solve our problems and the pessimists will hope nothing gets done and it fails. We all have our parochial reasons for the sides we support. I remember when a section out of spite even supported Zambia against the Black Stars because they were not in power. I am sure the same group of people will also wish evil this time around .

I have many a time admired Americans for the way they can get together when they are faced with adversity despite their differences . Blacks enlisted and fought for the country even when they did not have the vote .The episode of 9/11which ended up by invading Saddam Husseins’s Iraq. The economic collapse of 2008 . But before that , I watched Frank Bruno fight Tim Witherspoon and the support Tim had from his fellow Americans especially when he was failing . It was a frenzy in the corner , Ali, Frazier, all urging him on till he won , then they carried him high . Another high profile one was the fight Greg Page won against the “ great white hope” , Gerrie Coetzee in Pretoria , South Africa . The entourage kept saying “ we have come to take our title back” . Those of us around , though Black but with accents could not go near Greg Page. We could only congratulate him after the fight .

There can be no gain saying Ghana and Africa’s economies are in trouble . Those of us who are Nkrumaists have been saying and writing all along we are on the wrong path .People will not listen. They will distort whatever you say as Marxism or communism . The truth is Nkrumah never even nationalized any enterprise .He tried to make us independent through diversification .Just go round Africa and you will see how vulnerable the countries and the economies are as they are made to depend mainly on one product . Ghana , cocoa, Zambia, copper, Tanzania sisal, Uganda coffee, Botswana , diamond . The prices of these commodities are determined from outside and so any fluctuation causes disruption in the budget of the country. Nkrumah grabbled with it when cocoa price plummeted in the 60s to undermine his drive for independence. When he was toppled and Kenneth Kaunda took the mantle , again copper price surprisingly collapsed . We do not learn , but we love to point fingers . The truth being those who point fingers are the worst offenders . How can any political party control these external factors ? But we fool our supporters in the quest for power

Here are a few facts 1 There is a presumption that, just put an Asante or NPP person at the top and all would well . I say we had Gen Afrifra , Gen Kutu Acheampong and then the ‘ gentle giant”, Kuffour . We remain under developed 2 Corruption is only the preserve of the NDC. Well ,why was Kuffour labeled “ Ali Babaa & the 40 thieves”? 3 Privatize and all will be well . What happened under Busia ? We had a negative economic growth . Tell me which African country has used the free enterprise method and become even second world 4 Dismiss State workers/ Cut state expenditure and all will be well . Busia did it under Structural Adjustment program, closing down 400+ enterprises . Rawlings also did it under the dictates of IMF , Thatcher and Reagan .Those were the giddy days of Thatcherism and Reaganomics . The Soviet Union had just collapsed and so socialism was a discredited ideology . “ Trickle down economics “ was in full swing .Where in Africa did it cause development?. where were our African Investors ? There were factories and enterprises lying idle and we could not even get people to buy them and get them running. Those who ran enterprises were busy evading taxes and churning out shoddy goods 5 In line with the trimming down was the “Apollo” 568 and the “ Aliens Compliance order” . Did they solve our problems ?This caused our farm labor to go and made us lose our ranking as the foremost Cocoa producer . Foreign exchange was scarce as it is now and we then put into effect Exchange Controls ,which in turn compounded our problems . We had to queue even for toilet paper 6 We have marched to “ chase away” hunger before . From Accra to Aburi meanwhile the Nsawan cannery was closed and the pineapples were rotting on the farms . The tomato farms in the North to feed Pawlugu factory were abandoned as the factory had no working capital . A lot of Commercial farms were left to rot . All over the country the same scenario played out , Asutsuare, kommenda, Denu, Kumasi, Akwatia, Tema . 7 We have had Military strong men and Civilians . It has been top down . Nkrumah and the CPP had more of down up approach though some call that “ dictatorship” . When Nkrumah was strong we say he is a dictator. Now Mahama is “weak” 8 We called some people “ veranda boys” and others “ Swedru Busco” as we say they lack education and qualification. My home boy JJ is touted to be a “ school drop out” , which is why they did “ nothing” . Surprisingly the well educated when in power had schools under trees and could not see that enterprises take between 3 – 5 years to become profitable. Yet they give foreign companies 5 year tax free holidays 9 There is an advocacy , just lower taxes and businesses will come in . Which taxes? Then where do you get money for roads , schools, hospitals? 10 We should need to go back to the grassroots. Local councils, districts to ask what can we best produce ? Should this not be an all inclusive effort? Identify what is suitable for each locality and see how best it can be produced , and marketed so the economy can grow. Job creation , to lower unemployment and growth of GDP should be the priority. All these “ educated” people and diasporas owe it as a patriotic duty to uplift their localities . Is that not the way to get out of debt and create a surplus for further investment? Is that not what will spur the African dream of “ free enterprise”? This is what Dr Amoako said “We know that Ghana has been growing. That’s the good news. But we also know that it’s not enough. The economy grew from its average of 5.3 percent in the 2000s to 14 percent in 2011, but extremely favorable commodity prices underwrote much of that growth. During that peak year of 2011, for instance, our manufacturing sector contributed only 7 percent to GDP.

The real long-term challenge for Ghana, We call “Growth with DEPTH.” D-E-P-T-H.

The D stands for diversification of production and exports; the E, for export competitiveness; the P, for productivity gains; the T, for technological advances; and the H, for human wellbeing—all brought about by expanding formal employment and raising incomes. This is ACET’s recipe for the future of sound African economies. This is our blueprint for a country like Ghana to realize its vast potential.

He continues that the blueprint—Growth with DEPTH—in empirical terms via the African Transformation Index. The Index provides a comparative baseline to measure the performance and progress of African countries on the five DEPTH attributes. On Diversification, we rank 17th, down from 8th in 2000. The current 7 percent share of manufacturing in GDP, which I mentioned earlier, is well below the world average of 16 percent. It’s also below the sub-Saharan average of around 10 percent. Ghana’s economy remains stuck in extractives and primary products.

On Export competitiveness, we rank 7th. On the surface, this number seems strong. But when compared to 2000, when Ghana ranked 2nd overall, we see another troubling sign of decline.

• On Productivity, we rank 12th.of 21 countries On Technology, 20th of 21 countries

• And on Human wellbeing, we rank 8th. This otherwise solid ranking is also tempered by troubling underlying data, however. For instance, less than one-quarter of Ghana’s labor force is in formal employment Are these partisan issues or national issues? Dr Amoako is not a politician . This is a comparative analysis of the period preceding the year 2000 and 2001 to current . It is for us to take a critical look at what he has presented and ask ourselves what worked and then ask why have we gone down ?

Do we need to play politics with these hard facts? Is this not the time to come together to work together irrespective of who is at the top. ? Who governed when these reversals took place? Do they not need to make a “ mea culpa, mea culpa’ and roll up their sleeves to help remedy the errors they have committed instead of always writing “ nothing “ was achieved in 19 years and Nkrumah was a dictator ?We need to face forward. If those leaders have been failures , it behooves us to learn from their failures. “ The first fool is not a fool , but the second fool is” . Let us together chart a path to our shared “African dream” of prosperity for all

Our Growth and survival depends on production of goods and services that are in demand . Let us identify what people need and get on with the job . Let us not fight over how

Work and happiness has not substitute

PS Beloved, P V Obeng may your soul rest in peace. As for the family , we are with you in this hour of your loss

The writer Kojo Tamakloe is a Pan Africanist who believes African Unity is the solution to our under development