FEC

Achieved Democratization and New Development of Global Market Strategies

—– Ghana celebrates the 60th anniversary of its independence from Britain this year. How would you describe the features of Ghana to the Japanese people?

Ghana is the first British colony in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence. Then-president of Ghana stated, “Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up to the total liberation of Africa.” Ghana’s current constitution was established in 1992, followed by the multi-party democratic state in the same year. Transparent elections and peaceful regime transition took place, and we decided on the independence of the three arms of government. The liberation of the Republic of South Africa marked the achievement of Africa’s political freedom. Ghana began its economic development and was maintaining a high growth rate; but due to the economic slowdown that began several years ago, we are now working toward the country’s rebuilding, backed by an IMF program.

—– Ghana is known as one of the most stable countries in West Africa, How has Ghana achieved the political stability and democratization?

From 1966 to 1981, Ghana did not enjoy democratic political stability due to four military interventions. The military failed to play a proper role in security and maintenance of sovereignty and territorial integrity. The political stability was achieved by thoroughly informing the military of the principle of civilian control. The public was educated about the meaning of the multi-party democracy and the need for dialogues among political rivals, in order to foster the culture of respecting human rights. Establishing the 1992 constitution was essential for pushing our democratization. It grants our president much power, but also prevents him from becoming a tyrant.

—– Ghana’s economic growth rate has been reduced to about 4 percent recently from 7 percent of the last two decades. What do you need to diversify and modernize the resource based economy?

The Ghanaian government is making efforts to add value to our export products and foster our processing industries through the “one district, one factory policy.” We need investments for enhancing value addition in the cacao bean business, where we see an influx of many foreign companies, as well as in the industry of refining and processing gold and bauxite and in the areas of fruits, cassava, and shea butter processing. We are also developing rebranding strategies for making the Ghanaian brands more attractive to the global market of agricultural products, textiles, and soccer, etc. in order to make our products more recognized and acclaimed.

—– Many Japanese know Ghana through the finest chocolates. How do you see the current Ghana-Japan relations? What is your priority mission for further strengthening the bilateral ties?

The long-standing relations between the two countries continues to be expanded and strengthened. It all started by Dr. Hideyo Noguchi’s contribution to the research of yellow fever in Ghana. The partnership between the two countries spans many areas including health sector, agriculture, infrastructure, and human resource development, and is beneficial to both sides. The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research located in Ghana has contributed greatly to Ghana’s measures against Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Also implemented are other collaborative projects of constructing fishing harbors, roads, and bridges, as well as electric power enhancement, solar power generation, primary health care and human resource development scholarships. The development of Ghana needs investments from Japanese companies that have highly-advanced technologies; and collaboration is made in the areas of infrastructure and public health, in accordance with the themes of TICAD VI (the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development). An infrastructure-related Japanese mission visited Ghana in May, when some memorandum of understanding were signed. The Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research is currently being expanded so that it will be able to handle the infectious diseases in the entire West African region.

—– The economies of East Africa and South Africa have developed through regional integration. How is the regional cooperation going among West African states?

Regional integration of West Africa has not been as fast as other African regions, because the colonial economic pattern which was inherited in West Africa, had poor railways and airway links and this makes regional travelling and trading difficult. In West Africa, there are 15 countries in ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) to which Ghana belongs and UEMOA (West African Economic and Monetary Union) to which 8 Francophone countries are members. The UEMOA members use a common currency and form a customs union. The differences in the customs rules and tariff rates of UEMOA and ECOWAS are obstacles to facilitation of intra-regional trade. ECOWAS is working to advance its single currency plan and its trade liberalization scheme, with the goal of faster regional integration of West Africa.