This a master piece.can presdent take such writer purity African seance to be his adviser communication.will be good.sad china have taken the same foot steps of the cleaver forum dealing same way done by the western on greate ... read full comment
This a master piece.can presdent take such writer purity African seance to be his adviser communication.will be good.sad china have taken the same foot steps of the cleaver forum dealing same way done by the western on greater or worse mode,shifted worse.when Africa leaders.last presd mahama appealing to the Chinese envoy to Ghana abt the millon$ loan I lost totally hope in my leaders&ashame that in the mist of bless my leaders lack wisdom.
LONTO-BOY 11 years ago
The World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of world leaders, heads of industry, media, luminaries and representatives of NGOs is merely a political talking shop to make grand-stand speeches. Davos will not 'reinvent' Afri ... read full comment
The World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of world leaders, heads of industry, media, luminaries and representatives of NGOs is merely a political talking shop to make grand-stand speeches. Davos will not 'reinvent' Africa! It's all about economic globalisation and 'crony capitalism'. Davos will not be the solution to Africa's problems.
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 11 years ago
I am not sure Cameron Doudu expected the developed world to export jobs to Africa and make their citizens unemployed. That is not going to happen for a number of reasons. First, is economic or the cost of transporting manufac ... read full comment
I am not sure Cameron Doudu expected the developed world to export jobs to Africa and make their citizens unemployed. That is not going to happen for a number of reasons. First, is economic or the cost of transporting manufactured goods in Africa for exports. It is cheaper to export fewer to African than produce them in Africa and transport many abroad.
The other reason is the size of Africa's market. Despite the huge population in Africa, purchasing power of the majority is very small and for that reason, it does not make economic sense to manufacture in Africa. Then, the African/Ghanaian mentality of preferring goods and services from outside the continent. This is because many automatically assume that the African product is of low quality. Give an African/Ghanaian Sanyo television set manufactured in Ghana by the same Japanese company and another but manufactured in Japan and s/he will opt for the one from Japan.
So, Mr Doudu, the subject is not simply transferring the factories to Africa but more complex. I have not even mentioned another excuse by the developed world of human capital. It is often said that Africa lacks skilled workers to manage the factories that will ad value.
You are right is saying that the blame lies squarely with African leaders. If the developed world would not set up the factories in Africa what stops them from ensuring that when they negotiate the extractive deals, they secure a higher percentage for their citizens? Just look at Ghana's oil, and gold and ask yourself, what percentage does Ghana get?
Davos or no Davos, nothing will change for Africa, unless our leaders also become smarter. Instead of Mahama crying that foreign mining companies have conspired to sabotage his windfall tax implementation because of a threat of laying off Ghanaian workers, what stopped President Mahama from passing a law that made it expensive for the mining companies to make make Ghanaian workers redundant?
KIA 11 years ago
Kofi, I agree with most the points you make, especially on where the blame should be put for our predicament. Still, some of things you say need qualification.
1. You claim implicitly that developed countries are refusi ... read full comment
Kofi, I agree with most the points you make, especially on where the blame should be put for our predicament. Still, some of things you say need qualification.
1. You claim implicitly that developed countries are refusing to relocate production to Africa because it amounts to shipping jobs overseas. But does relocating production units to Asia not amount to the same thing? Now let me go to your more explicit claims.
2. It's not entirely correct to suggest that developed countries don't want to relocate production to Africa because of the high cost of exporting manufactured goods from the region. In fact, it's more expensive and takes more time to ship goods from Asia to Europe than it is from Africa. Yet, European and American companies relocated production to China and elsewhere in East Asia.
However, if you focused only on internal transportation costs, then you may have a point because domestic transport costs are cheaper in China than in Ghana, for example. This also translates to cheaper production costs, as transportation services are inputs in the production process.
Nevertheless, while production costs in many Asian developing countries tended to be lower than in Africa, this is quickly changing, as wages are rising in several parts of Asia. In fact, for this reason, many Western companies that relocated production to China are either moving to Vietnam or going back home.
The question is why is Africa still being overlooked? In the late 1980s, we're told that once we democratised foreign investment would start pouring in. But as we began democratising, Western investors largely overlooked us and went to then largely authoritarian East Asia.
Now, even as they leave China, Northeast Asia's last major authoritarian country, they're looking at other authoritarian countries in Southeast Asia like Vietnam as new production platforms.
Part of the problem is the character of our governmentality, the rationality of government, which is oriented toward winning the next elections every four years rather than investing in human and physical capital development for long-run economic development. The GYEEDA rot and 12% deficit we've been hearing about are not unrelated to elections.
Mind you, this is not an NDC or NPP problem. It's a systemic problem. In fact, the NPP and the NDC are hardly distinguishable by their policies and spending behaviour. As a result we're beset with inadequate infrastructure and low-quality skills unfit for manufacturing economies.
While many authoritarian regimes are characterised by bad governance, democracy also undermines economic development and global competitiveness at the early stages of development. This is the truth most liberal development thinkers don't want to face.
2. "Despite the huge population in Africa, purchasing power of the majority is very small and for that reason, it does not make economic sense to manufacture in Africa."
When Western companies began relocating production to China in the 1990s, the Chinese had very low-incomes per capita and most of what was produced in Chinese factories was shipped overseas. It's only in the 2000s, following two decades of successful industrialisation, that rising incomes made China an attractive consumer market. Even so, I'm sure you may have heard China being castigated for being too dependent on export markets and not consuming enough of what it produces.
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 11 years ago
KIA, you have forgotten the cost of bad port facilities bureaucracy at ports that cause delays in clearing goods at most ports in Africa. These also add cost. So it's not only the distance but other related costs involved in ... read full comment
KIA, you have forgotten the cost of bad port facilities bureaucracy at ports that cause delays in clearing goods at most ports in Africa. These also add cost. So it's not only the distance but other related costs involved in transportation. Again, raw materials needs less care and attention at ports when exporting but that is not the case with manufactured goods. That also adds an element of risk of breakages and associated costs. Just imagine shipping damaged goods to Europe, North America, Latin America or Asia and having to replace them because poor handling. The customer might look for more reliable supplier/s. In other words, the relative costs of transporting finished goods from Africa are more complex even if we take away the high rates of exports taxes since such companies can get tax free concessions from African governments. Yes, Asian may be far away than Africa by in the end the relative costs of doing business in Africa may be higher. Another advantage in Asia is the skilled labour as compared to Africa. This is in addition to cheap labour, though as you said said that is now changing.
Jones 11 years ago
Shows good grasp of the fundamentals. I enjoyed it.
Shows good grasp of the fundamentals. I enjoyed it.
LONTO-BOY 11 years ago
very perceptive and interesting commentary, KIA.
very perceptive and interesting commentary, KIA.
Kyenky3hene 11 years ago
Our so-called "leaders" show their faces,they fail to make the most of the 'opportunity'presented to them!
In a gruop photograph taken of the Nigerian delegation that attended the World Economic Forum,President Goodluck Jona ... read full comment
Our so-called "leaders" show their faces,they fail to make the most of the 'opportunity'presented to them!
In a gruop photograph taken of the Nigerian delegation that attended the World Economic Forum,President Goodluck Jonathan,can be seen tucked away in a corner,while the business mogul,Dangote, occupies the center space!
Many of our political "leaders" have been invited to participate in G-8 deliberations in recent times,but can we really list and point to any "beneficial" outcomes?
With all the 'lettered' advisors/specials aides filling spaces at the Flagstaff House these days,I was surprised to to hear Pres. Mahama sing from the same hymnbook as her counterpart from Liberia! And though he pointed to Australia as having been successful in pushing through a Windfall Tax regime,I could not understand why he even brought the matter up. Who was he appealing to at Davos help us take a shot at such a useful policy aimed at balancing the uneven sharing of our own natural resources?
I am a reaslist,but the time has come for Africa`s "leaders [to] become wise rather than merely clever.”
Independent Man 11 years ago
The World Economic Forum is just a business for the founders. It is like the many other event created by some Entrepreneurs to make money for themselves. If those who accept invitations to participate see it as such, they wou ... read full comment
The World Economic Forum is just a business for the founders. It is like the many other event created by some Entrepreneurs to make money for themselves. If those who accept invitations to participate see it as such, they would do a better cost/benefit to themselves before attending. It is also a holiday event. Forget it.
Nana Kwaku 11 years ago
To begin with, even humans were taken from Africa. A very clever move was hatched to put blame on our ancestors who allegedly "sold" their kin to the white man. I asked a group of African Americans that had our ancestors sold ... read full comment
To begin with, even humans were taken from Africa. A very clever move was hatched to put blame on our ancestors who allegedly "sold" their kin to the white man. I asked a group of African Americans that had our ancestors sold all these millions of people, could the slave masters have paid? They claim whiskey was the main trading commodity. Fine, how many crates of this commodity was traded for over 400 years!! Cameron Duodu started with the word clever. They are clever enough to know that there was no way our ancestors could document any of those events.
So as usual, if there is a case in court involving an intellectual and a truck pusher, it is automatically concluded that the truck pusher will end up in jail. As has been the case over the years, how many African countries have won legal cases in international courts. They created the law courts after all. They taught our first lawyers the LAW! Please find below how the slave trade was planned. Not by a business group, but by a...."I hereby decree today in the year of our lord 1455, that black people are inferior BY gEN. 9:20, and are animals, and should be taken and shipped by europeans and be sold in the americas. The first slave ship-load shall be mine, to be called Jesus Christ of lebeth, and to be captained by my rev. missionary john hawkings. let all ship-loads and all enslavers of Africans pass without let...."
-by my order. nicholas viii, pope, vatican, 1455. So, did our ancestors invite Rev. father John Hawkings to transact such a gargantuan deal? If so, what were the terms? Whiskey!! NO way!
At the earth summit in Rio, Brazil in the year 2000 or so, it was agreed that the world population be reduced by a percentage too horrific to mention! It was planned through civil wars, famine, and some other crude methods. What do you think the GMO and vaccination issues are all about. There is a contraceptive in our pharmacies donated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Africa(I have the full report)which I later found out was actually a fertility drug with serious side effects. If as a teenager you decide to play safe with your loved one and decide together that birth will come after marriage, please forget it. MY dear young lady, you are barren for life!! The drug is DEPO PROVERA. Any reader should check from pharmacies. I have seen some with my naked eyes! Cleverness again. How would you convince our ladies that this product from obroni is dangerous since everything from obroni land is good if not the best. By the way, do you know that Rev. Father Hawkings was rewarded with the title SIR, by the then queen of England? No European ruler has ever had any respect for the African.
A humanitarian gesture does not mean respect. If your next door neighbor is a drunk who starves his family, and you decide to feed his kids, that can be considered a humanitarian gesture, but will you have any respect for the booze man? If you're not spiritual, you may have access to his wife! That is why no matter how good your wife may be, she is most likely to change her mind if some young nice looking obroni shows up. Haven't we seen or heard of these in the past? We blame our leaders, but will any African dare say no to obroni when it comes to $$$$$$?
Olad 11 years ago
I read the article first, and wondered who was the author of such a magnificent and thoroughly right-on-the-button article... then, I checked and it was Cameron Duodu. All I could think was "No wonder"!. Great article. No Bla ... read full comment
I read the article first, and wondered who was the author of such a magnificent and thoroughly right-on-the-button article... then, I checked and it was Cameron Duodu. All I could think was "No wonder"!. Great article. No Black Africa leader should disgrace us by being there. Oh, and by the way, there are two Africas - Black Africa and Arab Africa. Think it through.
YAW 11 years ago
Blame our leaders. How many cars did neoplan Ghana assembled last year? Pan Automotive Nigeria assembled more than 80,000 cars in the mid 80"s,employing 4000 workers.30 years on they employ 250 workers producing 3000 cars, W ... read full comment
Blame our leaders. How many cars did neoplan Ghana assembled last year? Pan Automotive Nigeria assembled more than 80,000 cars in the mid 80"s,employing 4000 workers.30 years on they employ 250 workers producing 3000 cars, WHY?
KIA 11 years ago
In general, I share your sentiments, Mr. Duodu. But I think there are a few things your article overlooks. For those who don't like reading long comments, let me sum up whatever I have to say before providing details: the WEF ... read full comment
In general, I share your sentiments, Mr. Duodu. But I think there are a few things your article overlooks. For those who don't like reading long comments, let me sum up whatever I have to say before providing details: the WEF seeks to achieve by the socialisation of our elites what aid conditionality struggles to achieve, namely, Western control over our policies and value systems.
1. The WEF has been a platform for the promotion of neoclassical economic principles, including the doctrines of Ricardian comparative advantage and free markets. It is inconceivable that such a platform would become the place for the promotion of the sort of industrial policies that will force the MNCs to relocate production to Africa or help start our own.
2. The article seems to appreciate the fact that at least the WEF discusses aid to poor regions like Africa. But that's part of the problem. The post-war international aid architecture has been designed as compensation for maintaining colonial-like patterns of trade relations with the post-colonies. With aid, Western donors maintain arms-length control over our societies. An increase in Western aid only goes to increase Western control over our policies, our value systems, our ability to compete with them on the global stage. It's for this reason that Lee Kuan Yew stopped receiving aid, only borrowing on commercial basis to develop Singapore.
3. The article also takes issue with our leaders who attend the WEF and fail to put forward our best interests. To know why this is the case, we have to ask why our leaders get invited and why they accept such invitations.
First, our elites (both state and civil society) get invited because the WEF is a major platform for elite socialisation, a far more effective strategy for exerting policy influence on developing countries than politically-contentious aid conditionality. To make this even more effective, the WEF particularly targets our civil society leaders with badges of honour and global name recognition, including Young Global Leader. In turn, our leaders accept the invitation to attend the WEF because it gives them a platform to be known on the world stage. This is particularly the case with civil society elites, who may have no solid professional or academic backbone of their own, but can get nominated as Young Global Leader merely for hawking the values and economic principles favoured by the WEF.
Because we associate international recognition with actual success, a feature of our inferiority complex, such global name recognition also allows such civil society elites to gain considerable influence over our policies, as our journalists and politicians begin to consult them, not because of any personal academic or professional achievements, but because they've been recognised by the WEF. And by attaining such influence over our policies, such civil society elites then become even more visible to Western donors seeking to use grant donations to civil society groups to influence our policies.
Africa's policy space has been so crowded with too much international noise that drowns local initiative. Every African development challenge, including even the inadequacy of toilets, has a dedicated international summit! Yet, The policies that transformed East Asia did NOT originate in any summits held by the G7, WEF or even the UN. It's high time our leaders realised that summit diplomacy is not the place to take the hard decisions that will bring us transformation in our societies and competitiveness on the world stage.
Lest we forget, the formal colonisation of Africa began with a "world" summit, and the participants believed that their decisions would promote not only international law and peace, but also development in the conquered territories!
Jones 11 years ago
I didn't read this before my earlier comment. I like this even more.
I didn't read this before my earlier comment. I like this even more.
Harry O. 11 years ago
Cameron Duodu's articla is a well writeen piece, factual and incisive but where do we (Africans) go from here. Walter Rodney wrote a good book about how Europe under-developed Africa and he got killed. Cameron is asking many ... read full comment
Cameron Duodu's articla is a well writeen piece, factual and incisive but where do we (Africans) go from here. Walter Rodney wrote a good book about how Europe under-developed Africa and he got killed. Cameron is asking many questions, Walter Rodney posed simlar questions. Poor Africa - where do we go from the morass of under-development? Real transformation of the continent can come only from within our self-actualized efforts.
4ward Ever 11 years ago
Value-added manufacture and import-substitution were the goals of Nkrumah's visionary plan way back in the 60's. But people like Duodu accused him of corruption and supported the imperialist military junta that overthrew Nkru ... read full comment
Value-added manufacture and import-substitution were the goals of Nkrumah's visionary plan way back in the 60's. But people like Duodu accused him of corruption and supported the imperialist military junta that overthrew Nkrumah.
Nyansasem 11 years ago
When did Duodu accuse Nkrumah of his plans about value-added manufacture and/or import substitution? Try google and give us a link or hold your peace.
So anyone who fault Nkrumah in any of his ideologies was against ALL hi ... read full comment
When did Duodu accuse Nkrumah of his plans about value-added manufacture and/or import substitution? Try google and give us a link or hold your peace.
So anyone who fault Nkrumah in any of his ideologies was against ALL his plans. So tomorrow if I were to write something against the stupidity of Nkrumah's "life President of Ghana," I would be accused of against his value-added manufacture and/or import substitution? What kind of warped logic is that?
Janis Ampong 11 years ago
KIA, I have read your long diatribe in which you rage against everything and everyone but not the real canker destroying this country. Hear you:
"Because we associate international recognition with actual success, a featur ... read full comment
KIA, I have read your long diatribe in which you rage against everything and everyone but not the real canker destroying this country. Hear you:
"Because we associate international recognition with actual success, a feature of our inferiority complex, such global name recognition also allows such civil society elites to gain considerable influence over our policies, as our journalists and politicians begin to consult them, not because of any personal academic or professional achievements, but because they've been recognised by the WEF. And by attaining such influence over our policies, such civil society elites then become even more visible to Western donors seeking to use grant donations to civil society groups to influence our policies. "
Of the many problems currently staring us in the face, is that the worst you could see?????/ Civil society 'elites', 'Young Global Leaders' and 'WEF'?
Absolute 'nonsense'! All the Subah, GYEEDA, WOYOME, Hotel Waa Waa, etc etc what has that got to do with civil society elites and young global leaders???? I checked after reading your post and Ghana has had about only 7 or so Young Global Leaders in 10 years. Only one can fit your description. The rest are all highly accomplished lawyers, financiers and entrepreneurs. And that one has absolutely no influence on the actual policies implemented by our governments. In fact he is often drawing attention to the harm they cause and in return is regularly insulted and denigrated by agents of the government.
So how can any sensible person say that these are the main problems facing this country. Not the incompetent public officials, the thieving crooks in high places, the barely literate DCEs, the selling of state assets to cronies. Are these cooked and hatched at the WEF? Tell me one problem caused by civil society elites having influence over our so-called policies! Was it some civil society person who held Kufuor's hand to the EO agreement and compelled him to sign? Or the Governor of the Bank of Ghana's hand to sign the Merbank agreement? Were any of the brokers WEF Young Global Leaders?
Your silly little post is rife with non-sense and little in the way of scholarly evidence. If international summits were our problem, what an easy problem it would be to solve!
Are problem is actually people like you. Unproductive, big English writing, socialist-pretending, easy-way, armchair layabouts! That is our problem. Skin-pain is the only theory of development you understand. From the very onset of this republic, it is people like you through your cheap envy that have destroyed real entrepreneurs and doers, and created a parasitic elite that talks cra-p and achieves nothing. That elite is the pseudo-intellectual riffraff that posts things like this to attack people only trying to get ahead in life, whilst the real culprits continue to loot.
Get a life! If they don't invite you to Davos, that is not the end of the world.
KIA 11 years ago
Janis, I was curiously entertained by your post, not least for its illogicality.
1. Based on Mr. Duodu's article, I outlined some of the incentives driving attendance at the WEF and why we must not expect too much from ... read full comment
Janis, I was curiously entertained by your post, not least for its illogicality.
1. Based on Mr. Duodu's article, I outlined some of the incentives driving attendance at the WEF and why we must not expect too much from the WEF. I offered theoretical and historical-empirical reasons why not. Consequently, I also took issue with Mr. Duodu's implicit expectation that the solutions to Africa's problems can be found at world summits.
I don't know how any serious scholar or policy thinker would disagree with this. And where did I say the MAIN PROBLEMS facing this country is civil society elites, Young Global Leaders or international summits? That I disapprove of how some civil society elites conduct themselves, or do not think that world summits are the fora to find solutions to our problems, amounts to saying these are the MAIN PROBLEMS facing our country? Where did you learn your logic?
2. In another comment to this same article, I not only mentioned the GYEEDA rot, but also alluded to the political (structural) incentives that encourage such spending behaviour.
3. What's your definition of civil society elite? By your own reckoning "Ghana has had about only 7 or so Young Global Leaders in 10 years. Only one can fit your description. The rest are all highly accomplished lawyers, financiers and entrepreneurs".
There you have it. Did the "accomplished lawyers, financiers and entrepreneurs" attend WEF as civil society elites or as accomplished professionals? And this person that you think is not an accomplished professional and fits my description, is s/he a civil society leader or not? And what harm are you referring to when you say of this person: "In fact he is often drawing attention to the harm they cause and in return is regularly insulted and denigrated by agents of the government"?
In the end, you're actually standing on my side, yet you don't know it, which also makes your claims of me being envious and bitter all the more silly. Are you envious and bitter about this person you tried to single out as fitting my description?
By the way, did you actually read Mr. Duodu's article before going to the comment section? Please, next time do, or do so carefully. Good night!
Janis Ampong 11 years ago
Cameron Duodu raised very critical issues about de-industrialisation, and pointed out that confabs like WEF do not contribute to finding solutions to our perennial and critical challenges. In effect, he is pointing out that t ... read full comment
Cameron Duodu raised very critical issues about de-industrialisation, and pointed out that confabs like WEF do not contribute to finding solutions to our perennial and critical challenges. In effect, he is pointing out that they are a waste of them. Immediately, you jump in with your completely silly and irrelevant side-attacks on people you are envious about because after getting your degree you have not been able to come and demonstrate all these theoretical ideas and tosh you keep spewing out in the real hustle and bustle of 'better Ghana'. So you sit here on Ghanaweb typing silly stuff. Who doesn't know you are referring to Franklin Cudjoe? How many YGLs do we have in civil society in Ghana? Just one. So he is the ONLY one in Ghana who fits your description. The fact that you were cheap enough to single him out as one of the major causes of Ghana's problem evidences your pathological envy and stupid-ity which prevents you from seeing the real people messing this country about. In the serious scheme of things, are the likes of Franklin Cudjoe the 'elites' dictating how things should be done in Ghana? Why go and bring in a young man who is at best peripheral to the real power structures of this country in a discussion about the serious problems facing this country???? I deduced that you are a young man, freshly graduated with some degree you highly fancy, and strongly envious of your peers who you believe don't deserve the attention they are getting. But that is schoolboy, playground, sentimentality, and the sort we don't need around when discussing serious issues of national importance. Quit clowning in your daydream world and get a life, young man!
KIA 11 years ago
Wogyafo, you really have a big problem. I don't even know what it is you're quarreling about. You can single out and name whoever you want. But it will be better to focus on issues rather than on personalities.
Sadly, you ... read full comment
Wogyafo, you really have a big problem. I don't even know what it is you're quarreling about. You can single out and name whoever you want. But it will be better to focus on issues rather than on personalities.
Sadly, you keep attributing to me things I neither explicitly suggested nor even implied in my comment. You could have disagreed with me without all the nonsense you're pouring out here. Assuming I was wrong in my analysis, how do your own insults on me advance the discussion of the issues raised by Mr. Duodu?
Now, you've moved from accusing me of being envious of all the accomplished professionals to being envious of Franklin? I'm actually wondering whether this is some kind of psychological projection.
KIA 11 years ago
I only have a BA, which I received almost a decade ago, so quit this silly fascination with some "fancy degree" you think I recently obtained and focus on the issues.
I only have a BA, which I received almost a decade ago, so quit this silly fascination with some "fancy degree" you think I recently obtained and focus on the issues.
Janis Ampong 11 years ago
If issues were either your forte or preoccupation would you have dumped the rubbish you just did up there? Go way you! If you want to contribute to mature conversation about national development, don't start off with the atti ... read full comment
If issues were either your forte or preoccupation would you have dumped the rubbish you just did up there? Go way you! If you want to contribute to mature conversation about national development, don't start off with the attitude of a toddler, dripping with insinuation and useless, mindless, envy. Gerrout!
Nyansasem 11 years ago
Seriously, I am reading through your exchanges and scratching my balls why are you seething with such anger?
If you believed everything Duodu wrote then you should have no problem with what KIA wrote here. He hardly added ... read full comment
Seriously, I am reading through your exchanges and scratching my balls why are you seething with such anger?
If you believed everything Duodu wrote then you should have no problem with what KIA wrote here. He hardly added anything to what Duodu wrote. He only tried to give reason why they are behaving that way and why we Africans should not expect that much from them.
If you can't wrap your mind around what he wrote about the "elites" "young Global leaders" etc...you should have tried to focus on his conclusion alone.
"Africa's policy space has been so crowded with too much international noise that drowns local initiative. Every African development challenge, including even the inadequacy of toilets, has a dedicated international summit! Yet, The policies that transformed East Asia did NOT originate in any summits held by the G7, WEF or even the UN. It's high time our leaders realised that summit diplomacy is not the place to take the hard decisions that will bring us transformation in our societies and competitiveness on the world stage."
Now, can you please tell me what is wrong with his conclusion and that of yours talking about GYEEDA, SADA and others. Also, may be you can do us a favor by trying respond DIRECTLY to Duodu's article and let's know your opinion about the article.
Thank you.
Moses 11 years ago
If you disagree with KIA's take on the main article, why not discuss the points on which you disagree and argue your own point? Why do you go so personal and even attribute to KIA claims he did not make?
It seems you know ... read full comment
If you disagree with KIA's take on the main article, why not discuss the points on which you disagree and argue your own point? Why do you go so personal and even attribute to KIA claims he did not make?
It seems you know KIA personally and have something against him. But those of us neutrals reading this exchange don't understand your anger against KIA.
Is there more to this than meets our eyes?
Janis Ampong 11 years ago
He claims he has a BA, which he acquired 10 years ago. Yet he believes there are certain people who have been honoured by the WEF who have no 'professional or academic achievements'. Who are these people? Why did he go and br ... read full comment
He claims he has a BA, which he acquired 10 years ago. Yet he believes there are certain people who have been honoured by the WEF who have no 'professional or academic achievements'. Who are these people? Why did he go and bring this Pullthemdown nonsense when we are talking about serious issues of national transformation and development? Why personalise the important points about industrialisation raised by Cameron??? He tainted an otherwise important discussion with typical ghanaman envy and bring-them-down rubbish and that has me very angry because that is why sensible people in this country can't unite to take on the politicians messing up this country. People like this KIA character are always so busy tearing down other professionals that we can't focus on the real mess going on in this country. That is our real problem, and KIA is a clear example of this MESS! If you guys can't see it, then I pity you.
Alex 11 years ago
This a must read article by government leadership especially president Mahama.Great article and God bless you.
This a must read article by government leadership especially president Mahama.Great article and God bless you.
BEN, Takoradi 11 years ago
Does this phrase ring a bell?
Does this phrase ring a bell?
BEN, Takoradi 11 years ago
Does this WORD ring a bell?
Does this WORD ring a bell?
Bonsu 11 years ago
Mahama had better things to do in Switzerland. A man's got to visit his Swiss bank account from time to time, people. Leave Mahama alone to enjoy small in Switzerland.
All those who have not been paid: teachers, nurses an ... read full comment
Mahama had better things to do in Switzerland. A man's got to visit his Swiss bank account from time to time, people. Leave Mahama alone to enjoy small in Switzerland.
All those who have not been paid: teachers, nurses and the rest, you all can wait.
4ward Ever 11 years ago
Cameron Duodu, did you ever read "AFRICA MUST UNITE" by Kwame Nkrumah - the man you accused of being the originator of corruption in Ghana? How about the SEVEN YEAR DEVELOPMENT PLAN (1963/64 to 1969/70)? Or did you dutifully ... read full comment
Cameron Duodu, did you ever read "AFRICA MUST UNITE" by Kwame Nkrumah - the man you accused of being the originator of corruption in Ghana? How about the SEVEN YEAR DEVELOPMENT PLAN (1963/64 to 1969/70)? Or did you dutifully burn your copy as ordered by the NLC / Danquah-Busia military junta?
Nkrumah envisioned all the things you now fashionably write about, it’s all there in AFRICA MUST UNITE! And it’s there in the SEVEN YEAR DEVELOPMENT PLAN! Nkrumah tried but you accused him of corruption! All the money Nkrumah spent on infrastructure and industrial enterprises, in your eyes, was not spent at all on those but was corruptly appropriated by Nkrumah – as you, the Danquah-Busia forces and their imperialist sponsors have been shouting over and over in our years for almost 48 years.
Nkrumah tried to implement an import-substitution program. The factories he built, those which were in the process of being built, and those he planned to build are all very well-known – at least, by you, Cameron Duodu! Did I hear you mention CHOCOLATE being produced in Ghana? Did you? Nkrumah established two factories exactly for that – one near Takoradi and the other in Accra. The one at Takoradi was privatized. The Cocoa Products Factory in Accra became the property of Mrs Konadu Rawlings. You, Cameron Duodu, know all this. You could have written that truth that Nkrumah tried and was overthrown precisely for it. But no, the lie you fabricated in “The Gab Boys” against Nkrumah and his first republican CPP government must continue.
I will no longer belabour the point. Your hypocrisy says it all, and your hypocrisy is truly monumental!
This a master piece.can presdent take such writer purity African seance to be his adviser communication.will be good.sad china have taken the same foot steps of the cleaver forum dealing same way done by the western on greate ...
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The World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of world leaders, heads of industry, media, luminaries and representatives of NGOs is merely a political talking shop to make grand-stand speeches. Davos will not 'reinvent' Afri ...
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I am not sure Cameron Doudu expected the developed world to export jobs to Africa and make their citizens unemployed. That is not going to happen for a number of reasons. First, is economic or the cost of transporting manufac ...
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Kofi, I agree with most the points you make, especially on where the blame should be put for our predicament. Still, some of things you say need qualification.
1. You claim implicitly that developed countries are refusi ...
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KIA, you have forgotten the cost of bad port facilities bureaucracy at ports that cause delays in clearing goods at most ports in Africa. These also add cost. So it's not only the distance but other related costs involved in ...
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Shows good grasp of the fundamentals. I enjoyed it.
very perceptive and interesting commentary, KIA.
Our so-called "leaders" show their faces,they fail to make the most of the 'opportunity'presented to them!
In a gruop photograph taken of the Nigerian delegation that attended the World Economic Forum,President Goodluck Jona ...
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The World Economic Forum is just a business for the founders. It is like the many other event created by some Entrepreneurs to make money for themselves. If those who accept invitations to participate see it as such, they wou ...
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To begin with, even humans were taken from Africa. A very clever move was hatched to put blame on our ancestors who allegedly "sold" their kin to the white man. I asked a group of African Americans that had our ancestors sold ...
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I read the article first, and wondered who was the author of such a magnificent and thoroughly right-on-the-button article... then, I checked and it was Cameron Duodu. All I could think was "No wonder"!. Great article. No Bla ...
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Blame our leaders. How many cars did neoplan Ghana assembled last year? Pan Automotive Nigeria assembled more than 80,000 cars in the mid 80"s,employing 4000 workers.30 years on they employ 250 workers producing 3000 cars, W ...
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In general, I share your sentiments, Mr. Duodu. But I think there are a few things your article overlooks. For those who don't like reading long comments, let me sum up whatever I have to say before providing details: the WEF ...
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I didn't read this before my earlier comment. I like this even more.
Cameron Duodu's articla is a well writeen piece, factual and incisive but where do we (Africans) go from here. Walter Rodney wrote a good book about how Europe under-developed Africa and he got killed. Cameron is asking many ...
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Value-added manufacture and import-substitution were the goals of Nkrumah's visionary plan way back in the 60's. But people like Duodu accused him of corruption and supported the imperialist military junta that overthrew Nkru ...
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When did Duodu accuse Nkrumah of his plans about value-added manufacture and/or import substitution? Try google and give us a link or hold your peace.
So anyone who fault Nkrumah in any of his ideologies was against ALL hi ...
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KIA, I have read your long diatribe in which you rage against everything and everyone but not the real canker destroying this country. Hear you:
"Because we associate international recognition with actual success, a featur ...
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Janis, I was curiously entertained by your post, not least for its illogicality.
1. Based on Mr. Duodu's article, I outlined some of the incentives driving attendance at the WEF and why we must not expect too much from ...
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Cameron Duodu raised very critical issues about de-industrialisation, and pointed out that confabs like WEF do not contribute to finding solutions to our perennial and critical challenges. In effect, he is pointing out that t ...
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Wogyafo, you really have a big problem. I don't even know what it is you're quarreling about. You can single out and name whoever you want. But it will be better to focus on issues rather than on personalities.
Sadly, you ...
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I only have a BA, which I received almost a decade ago, so quit this silly fascination with some "fancy degree" you think I recently obtained and focus on the issues.
If issues were either your forte or preoccupation would you have dumped the rubbish you just did up there? Go way you! If you want to contribute to mature conversation about national development, don't start off with the atti ...
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Seriously, I am reading through your exchanges and scratching my balls why are you seething with such anger?
If you believed everything Duodu wrote then you should have no problem with what KIA wrote here. He hardly added ...
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If you disagree with KIA's take on the main article, why not discuss the points on which you disagree and argue your own point? Why do you go so personal and even attribute to KIA claims he did not make?
It seems you know ...
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He claims he has a BA, which he acquired 10 years ago. Yet he believes there are certain people who have been honoured by the WEF who have no 'professional or academic achievements'. Who are these people? Why did he go and br ...
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This a must read article by government leadership especially president Mahama.Great article and God bless you.
Does this phrase ring a bell?
Does this WORD ring a bell?
Mahama had better things to do in Switzerland. A man's got to visit his Swiss bank account from time to time, people. Leave Mahama alone to enjoy small in Switzerland.
All those who have not been paid: teachers, nurses an ...
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Cameron Duodu, did you ever read "AFRICA MUST UNITE" by Kwame Nkrumah - the man you accused of being the originator of corruption in Ghana? How about the SEVEN YEAR DEVELOPMENT PLAN (1963/64 to 1969/70)? Or did you dutifully ...
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Cameron Duodo's hypocrisy is breathtaking.