Nana More Visionary Than Mahama

The US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson has said that President Nana Akufo-Addo’s vision and poise is what the country needs to be beyond aid.

According to him, the President is more visionary than recent Ghanaian leaders.

“I do think that he is more visionary than some recent Ghanaian leaders. President Akufo-Addo’s focus on the private sector and making the private sector the engine of growth rather than government being the driving force is how I see the difference between the two of them,” Mr. Jackson told Ghanaweb in an interview.

The diplomat also acknowledged the performance of former President John Mahama.

“I think ex-president Mahama had a vision, too, so, I want to give him credit where credit is due, his emphasis was on infrastructure, which is very important – schools, clinics, hospitals, roads, President Mahama did a lot for this country.

“Both of them had visions for the country, I think President Akufo-Addo’s vision of private sector-led growth is likely to create more jobs and propel the economy forward faster than the infrastructure investments but the infrastructure investments were important.

In the view of the US Ambassador, President Akufo-Addo’s vision of one district-one factory may not be realised in his first term or even his second and that the idea is exactly what is needed to get beyond aid.

He explained that the country has to industrialize, build its industrial base and create jobs so that people do not want to trek across the desert and be potentially enslaved in Libya or even if they make it to Libya, drown in the Mediterranean.

Mr. Jackson argued that there was the need to change the dialogue so that people do not see it as their only alternative, indicating that “we need to make Ghana attractive for young people to stay here and see that they can be entrepreneurs, that they can have a real bright future here”.