Opinions of Sunday, 28 March 2021

Columnist: Kwaku Antwi-Boasiako

Vision 24: Transforming Ghana in 24 months

Ghana flag Ghana flag

Strategy

Manufacturing (Enhanced 1D1F and Industrialisation drive)

• Every natural resource in Ghana must have a factory or factories for processing

• All bankable 1D1F projects currently approved by the Ministry of Trade and Industry will receive equity funding to take off. All future projects will undergo the same processes of approval to ensure all manufacturing projects are bankable.

• Government will provide 100% equity investment for all factories

• Government will initially own 90% shares in all factories, with Promoters getting 10% sweat equity

• Promoters will buy back Government’s 90% shares over 5 years, starting from Month 13

• Promoters cannot declare dividend until all government shares have been bought back

• All factories must operate minimum 2 shifts in a 24-hour cycle

• MDAs and MMDAs will operate 2 shifts, using current staffing levels, to ensure enhanced productivity

• Night economy to be supported by enhanced 24-hour security measures

• Abolish death penalty, with the exception of conviction for any form of armed robbery

• Commute all non-violent sentences to non-custodial community sentences, with prisoners engaged by MMDAs in commission-based environmental policing work.

Construction

Using domestic resources and domestic cedi-denominated contractors, Government will embark on massive construction of infrastructure to support the manufacturing base and other socio-economic activities.

Resources

• Suspension of debt serving for 24 months. Interest Payments for 2021 is projected at GHS35.8 billion (about US$6 billion). That works out to about US$12 billion in 24 months.

• Suspension of all corporate tax exemptions for 24 months. This includes tax exemptions for all companies, domestic and foreign, across all sectors.

• Quantitative Easing (printing of money) by the BoG to pay for all domestic inputs. (https://www.myjoyonline.com/ghana-and-quantitative-easing-thoughts-of-a-non-economist/)

• Domestic resource mobilisation (taxation – direct and indirect)

• Foreign exchange control – Banks can only sell foreign currency towards import of products and services not locally available. Importers must find their own foreign currency to import goods that compete with locally-produced ones. If importers have their own foreign currency through exports, they are free to use their money to import whatever goods they trade in. The measure could indirectly make imports more expensive, which effectively would make local products more competitive.

• Junk Bond Billionaires – Government will engage investors regarding restructuring of debts under the programme to suspend debt servicing for 24 months. If any investors are unwilling to cooperate with government and decide to offload their bonds and other government debts, this may lead to downgrade of Ghana’s sovereign debts to junk status. Government will under such circumstances mobilize Ghanaian, Nigerian and other African investors, to buy these junk bonds on the cheap, knowing full well that the value of those bonds will skyrocket after 24 months. We could well create Junk Bond Billionaires in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa as a result!

• Pass Cash Lite and Networth Aggregator law, to fight against corruption and to broaden the tax net. This will ensure that government will have all the needed resources within the 24-month period to undertake Manufacturing and Construction as envisioned above. (https://www.myjoyonline.com/kwaku-antwi-boasiako-lets-use-cash-lite-and-networth-aggregator-to-fight-corruption-in-ghana/)

• Streamline the Executive, with only 16 Ministries and Government Machinery (The Presidency).