The Chief Executive Officer of Citi FM/TV Samuel Attah Mensah has stated that government must make deliberate efforts to make sure that every policy that is introduced creates some value for Ghanaians especially in the area of job creation.
Mr. Attah Mensah speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Friday morning ahead of the Ghana Rising Conference said job creation can not be left to chance but must be engineered by the government to favour its citizens.
“There is a reason why most advanced countries skew things in the favour of their citizens that is farmers, manufacturers… the issue is that, at the end of the day, every government policy must put food on somebody’s table or must keep someone employed.
So, if the sum total of your policies rather goes to employ people in other countries, then we are a failure… so the whole idea of Ghana Rising is to re-energise the policymakers, those on the fields, manufacturers, service providers that it is time for indigenous businesses to rise up.
Policymakers must begin to think; it is not just about foreign direct investments which are uncontrolled. Rather it is about how FDIs spur employment,” he said.
His remarks come in the wake of revelations about government shunning local textile manufacturers in the award of contracts to print the new school uniforms for public basic schools.
The General Secretary of the Textiles Workers Union, Abraham Koomson that the textiles industry will do better if the government gives the contract to the local companies to manufacture the fabrics for the new government-approved uniform for the pupils.
Ghana Rising 2019
The event organised by Citi FM/TV will be held on September 19, 2019, at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel in Accra.
The one-day conference to deliberate on policies to help boost the productive capacities of local businesses.
Explaining the rationale behind the event, Kojo Akoto Boateng, Head of Research at Citi FM/TV stated that there is the need for a deliberate policy direction to help create local businesses that can transcend the borders of Ghana.
According to him, despite the efforts of some local companies, they are unable to get the push required to transform into regional giants.
The conference, he said, will move beyond the usual talk shop to getting the right stakeholders to focus on the things that matter as well as get the right commitment from the policymakers to support an agenda that will create local business champions.
The event will feature panel discussions on four thematic areas namely: Finance, Oil & Gas, Agriculture & Agribusiness and Green Economy.
The summit will bring together stakeholders, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to examine opportunities for local businesses to grow, creation and implementation of policies that place local businesses at the center of national development, and ways to leverage the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for our local businesses to scale into global conglomerates.
Participants are required to register and pay a fee of GH¢120 to book their seat.
Click on this link to register.