Presidential candidate and former Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, has expressed disappointment at the decision of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to cancel the Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI) program, which he launched after taking office in 2009.
Mr. Kyerematen spearheaded PSI, and Ghana produced cassava for clothing and textiles, oil palm for export, and industrial starch.
Speaking at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Evening Encounter on October 1, 2024, he said the country has failed to develop these initiatives that could have significantly grown its economy. he lamented.
“When I introduced the Presidential Special Initiatives under President Kufuor, I advised the President to identify just four sectors during his Presidency. One was clothing and textiles, where Bangladesh, the world’s poorest country, produces $30 billion worth of clothing annually just by sewing shirts and trousers. We export to the US market, but if Ghana could do even half of that, there would be no need to rely on the IMF.
“When it comes to oil palm, Malaysians learned how to grow oil palm from Ghana in the 1960s.Currently, Malaysia earns about $20 billion from oil palm and its derivatives.What will Ghana do with oil palm? I don’t say much for fear of people quoting me for claiming that Alan was only used in coconut soup.But we have to go beyond coconut soup. If we did half of what Malaysia does in oil palm, that would be $10 billion. And we would produce half of what Bangladesh does in clothing and textiles. If so, that’s $15 billion. That adds up to $25 billion.”
He also highlighted the potential of cassava, saying, “Cassava is the biggest money tree that Ghana has ever had access to. This led to Guinness Ghana producing its first cassava beer.” Imagine turning cassava from just a food crop into a cash crop with the factory I built. This happened in 2003 during President Kufuor’s tenure. ”
Alan Kyerematen blames the cancellation of these programs on the negative mindset of Ghanaians, which he believes is hampering national development efforts.
“The negative mindset of Ghanaians – particularly comments such as, ‘Oh, Alan is bringing cassava to kill people’ – has discouraged the NDC from having any interest or desire to continue these efforts. We could be one of the world’s leading companies by now. Did you know that industrial starch producers contain some form of starch in every pill you swallow? • Industrial starches are used in many industrial formulations.”
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