Date: Aug 19 , 2019 .BY:
Benjamin Xornam Glover
The New Patriotic Party (NPP)
Member of Parliament for Assin Central Constituency, Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong,
has called on the government to support home-grown businesses to enable them to
grow and expand their operations instead of focusing on bringing in new
investors.
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| Mr Kwesi Poku Bosompem (left), CEO of Tema Excellence Awards, presenting an award to Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong |
He explained that until the
Ghanaian businessman or business woman with vision was assisted and supported
to grow and expand his or her operations, the economy would continue to
stagnate
Mr Agyapong said this at the 10th
edition of the Tema Excellence Awards held last Saturday, in Tema in the
Greater Accra Region.
The Tema Excellence Awards is aimed
at celebrating personalities who reside in Tema and have excelled in their
various fields of endeavour and contributed to the development of the
metropolis.
This year 12 individuals were
presented with shields and citations for their contributions to society.
Economy contribution
The Assin Central lawmaker and
businessman, who was the Special Guest of Honour, noted that successive
governments had over the years not supported indigenous businesses to make them
take commanding heights of the economy.
“There are good Ghanaians who can
do good business and they need support. We are not asking for handouts; all we
are asking for is assistance to contribute to the economic development of our
nation.”
“I have always asked myself what we
can do as citizens of this country to develop our nation. We are not harnessing
our potential. I wouldn’t blame anybody but I think successive governments have
not done enough to promote Ghanaian entrepreneurs. We need to take our destiny
into our own hands but we can only do that when we have banks assisting
businessmen and business women with vision,” he said.
He bemoaned the high interest rates
charged by the banks and called on the government to do something about it.
“If an Indian is coming to do
business with an interest rate of between three and five per cent, and a
Ghanaian goes for a loan of 30 per cent, how do you compete with an Indian
globally?
How do you compete with a Lebanese
globally? Even Nigeria ,
which is next door to Ghana ,
has an interest rate regime of between nine and 10 per cent,” he stated.
Competitiveness
Mr Agyapong said he was of the view
that the system must be reviewed to provide Ghanaian entrepreneurs with a fair,
transparent and competitive market to contribute to the expansion and stability
of the economy, since profits gained by them would remain in the country.
“It is not that Ghanaian businesses
do not have vision or foresight but the system does not help us in anyway,” he
stressed.
Mr Agyapong also called on
entrepreneurs to do honest business, be hardworking, trustworthy and
disciplined in all that they do, since without it, they would not achieve
success.
He commended the organisers for
recognising and promoting excellence over the past decade and called on
residents of Tema, including corporate organisations, to join hands with the
organisers and the various stakeholders to develop Tema into what the late Dr
Kwame Nkrumah envisioned.
He said Tema had a lot of potential
in industry, tourism, among other sectors, but land (which is a key resource)
had been sold to foreigners, a situation that had stagnated the growth of the
city but must be reversed if the port city was to take its pride of place in
national development.
The Chief Executive of Tema
Excellence Awards Foundation, Mr Kwesi Poko Bosompen, said since its inception
10 years ago, the foundation had recognised and rewarded more than 250 people
with the aim of inspiring others to do more for the city and the nation.
He said every society must
recognise its heroes and heroines and that was what they had achieved over the
years.
He commended partners and sponsors
for supporting such a noble cause.
Awards
Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, a
previous recipient, received a special award and the title “Akukudurohene” from
the organisers for his forthrightness on national issues.
Other award winners were Mr George
Sydney Abugri, a multi-award winning journalist (formerly of the Graphic
Communications Group), Nii Bortey Klan I, Chief of Klagon; Mr Daniel Nii
Kwartei Titus Glover, MP for Tema East; Mrs Margaret Nsiah Asamoah, immediate
past Tema Regional Director of Education; Mrs Barbera Aful Asamoah of Santa
Barbera School, and Captain Ben Duah, a retired army officer.
The rest were Mr Bismarck Brown, a
media practitioner; Dr Kofi Asare, Apostle Dr Robert Ayikuma Laryea, Rev. Col,
Paul Adjei Brewu (Retd) and Dr Kwabena Opoku Edusei.
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