It is exactly 61 years yesterday since my beloved home country won her independence from the colonial British rule. Yesterday; 6th March 2018, Ghana celebrated its 61st anniversary since attaining its independence. The theme for the celebration was "Ghana beyond aid". Ghana, which is the first country in sub-Sahara Africa to attain independence from colonial rule which was led Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on 6th March 1957. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, on that unforgettable night of 5th March, 1957, at the Old Polo Grounds in Ghana's capital city Accra is quoted saying " the black man is capable of managing his own affairs". He was affirming the need for us to have self confident and believe in each other as a people with a common destiny and vision to solve are own problems. Ghana's Independence achievement helped to spark a revolution of a need for other African countries to attain independence from colonial rule and as a result many African nation attain independence in 1960's and beyond.
After about 60 years of attaining independence status as a nation and as a continent by our forefathers, what have we achieved so far. Please permit me to use Ghana; a country in sub- Sahara Africa as a case study. Let's study some history to give us a full picture of what Ghana looks like 60 years ago.
Around the time of our independence, we had peers such as Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore. Our per capita incomes were very similar at around ($450) in 1960, and our economies were dependent on the production of primary commodities. Today, these countries, once our peers, have significantly transformed themselves into industrialised economies. Income per head in Singapore is now at ($51,431), South Korea at ($29,115), and Malaysia at ($9,623) compared to Ghana’s at ($1,512). We are still dependent on the export of primary commodities, as was the case at the time of colonial rule. We must admit, sadly, that, in the area of economic development, we have underachieved, relative to our peers at independence.
Even though underachievement may have been a major part of our history thus far, it should no longer be part of our destiny. The only nation we are destined to become is the one we choose, and decide to be. We do not have to accept someone’s definition of Africa or Ghana. We must define and craft our own destiny. As the American politician, William Jennings Bryan, once put it, and I quote: “Destiny is not a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
An Africa Beyond Aid is a prosperous and self-confident Africa that is in charge of its economic destiny; a transformed Africa that is prosperous enough to be beyond needing aid, and that engages competitively with the rest of the world through trade and investment.
Below is the the roadmap the will enable Ghana and Africa in general to attain economic independence without relying on foreign aid to function.
Firstly, we must make sure that future generation have a healthy environment to inherit. Water pollution, which are cause by activities of illegal mining, bad fishing practices and poor agricultural practices should be avoided. Also, deforestation of our forest reserves and and pollution of air which further worsening climate change should be discouraged through strong legislation and enforcement of the law.
Secondly, there is the need to have a strong macro-economic stability and economic growth. I believe that we can attain a strong economic growth when we increase trade among member countries. Increase trade among member countries would create more jobs for the unemployed youth in Ghana and further reduce our need for foreign aid.
Thirdly, modernization of the Agriculture sector should be a top priority. Best farm practices, use of farm machinery and also education or updating of farmers on pest control, weather prediction using modern satellite and GIS information would increase crop yield and improve the lives of peasant farmers.
Furthermore, there is the need to have a strong fight against corruption in Africa . Corruption which can be explain here as the stealing of public funds should be discouraged by strengthened public institution such as the court of law, the security service such as police and military to be effective in the discharge of their duties.
Moreover, Africa beyond aid means we should add value to our export. Refining our raw materials such as gold, bauxite, oil and cocoa will increase our foreign exchange instead of foreign aid and create more jobs for the youth.
Also, for Africa to attain economic independence, there is the need to have a free basic education for all of its people. Free education for all pupil of school going age will eliminate illiteracy and further enhance the learning of life skill which will improve their employability.
Lastly, we now live in a digital world, and to be competitive, we have to be a part of and take advantage of digitization.
An example is steemit as a platform should be projected and use by African to educate, inform, entertain and also create jobs for our people.
Please let me know what you think should be done to make Africa truly independent and work perfectly even beyond or without aid.
