Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda will help the country’s economy to recover quickly when COVID-19 is over.
Ghana’s economy has been hit hard by COVID-19 with the Finance Minister accepting that it may take time for the economy to stand on its feet again.
Speaking to the state broadcaster, GBC, after the Virtual Eid-ul Fitr celebration at the station on Sunday, the Vice President said the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda which encapsulates policies such as the Planting for Food and Jobs, will enable Ghana to recover quickly from the devastating effects of the pandemic.
“As you know, one of the economic factors for growth in countries in the world after the pandemic is self-reliance. You are going to look at self-reliance in food production, manufacturing and in services– that is really the Ghana Beyond Aid that the President started talking about way before this pandemic came into being. And so that trajectory that we have already embarked upon will allow us to recover from this pandemic much more quickly than probably other pandemics,” he said.
The Ghana Beyond Aid is a national agenda which seeks to transform the economy, which is focused on the production and exports of raw materials, to one based on manufacturing and high-value addition.
After the lifting of the three weeks lockdown of Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta admitted that it was impossible for the government to have continued the partial lockdown.
According to him, the Ghanaian economy, which is largely informal, could not sustain that decision beyond the three-weeks.
“When you look at what happened during the lockdown. It was quite clear after a point that given the 90% of our population is informal and they go out each day to earn wages, it became increasingly impossible to continue with such a policy,” he said.
