Ghana’s inability to control critical sectors of the economy could partly be blamed for the rising unemployment in the country.
This is the assertion of the Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital, Sam Jonah.
Mr. Jonah who spoke at this year’s New Year School and Conference argued that the insignificant ownership in areas such as mining, communication and telecom sectors have limited government’s ability to create jobs to address the teeming unemployment levels.
The NPP government is seeking to address the challenge by supporting private sector growth through easing the cost of doing business.
But the former CEO of Anglogold Ashanti, was of the view that higher equity interest in key sectors of the economy would help solve the country’s unemployment challenge.
“The banking sector is no different. Out of thirty five registered banks in Ghana, only 21% are Ghanaian owned. This percentage does not reflect the true state of Ghanaian ownership once we look at the capitalization. Contrast that with the top Banks in Nigeria, all being Nigerian owned many of whom are now prominent in our economy and have gone international”.
He also bemoaned the local participation and ownership in Ghana’s mining sector. “The mining sector is even more depressing, I can assure you that, the Ghanaian private equity interest in all mines put together will not be 1% and because of the lack of integration with the local economy the related service sector for mining is also significantly foreign .The situation is no different from our emerging oil and gas sector”.
Mr. Jonah said the continuous foreign ownership in the country will continue to have its negative impact on the economy’s growth.
“Even with our Stock Exchange, surprisingly a large percentage of the equity is foreign and we all know that such capital can leave without notice with negative consequences for the economy”.
Meanwhile speaking at the same event, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia blamed the rising unemployment on what he describes as the weak economic fundamentals inherited by the NPP government.
He argued that the economy bequeathed to the NPP by the erstwhile NDC administration, requires robust measures to realign the new administration’s agenda with the needs of industry and the majority of youth who are unemployed.
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By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana