President Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on leaders in the pharmaceutical industry to collaborate more with the leading banks in the effort at addressing some of the deficiencies in the industry.
According to the President, it is long overdue for Ghana to produce basic things like masks, hand sanitizers and disposable gloves, which have proved very important in the fight against the coronavirus.
“We should be making most of the things we need in Ghana ourselves, and I am seeing what is happening to us, in this crisis, as an opportunity. It has very big consequences, but it is also an opportunity. They say necessity is the mother of invention and advisedly so,” the President said.
In a meeting with the leaders of the country’s pharmaceutical and banking industries yesterday, he bemoaned the over-reliance of the country on foreign-made products.
“Sometimes it takes bad situations or crisis to reveal the obvious truth. Our country, our economy, our society is too dependent on foreign made things across the world. We are not talking just pharmaceuticals. We are far too dependent on things that are made from abroad and are imported by us,” the President said.
Together we fight
He prayed to God to shield the country from increased cases of the coronavirus infections, acknowledging that should there be a spike in the incidents of infections, the country will be presented with a significant challenge.
According to the President, whatever decision that would be made in the immediate term might not transform the situation, even though it will serve as building blocks for future transformation.
“So, I called you here for all of us to put our brains and minds and hearts together, to see a way forward for the future of our country. Whatever decisions are made today are not going to transform the situation today or tomorrow. But, then, we are going to be putting in the building blocks, the platform, for the transformation of tomorrow,” President Akufo-Addo said.
High interest rates
The President also bemoaned the high interest rates in the country, saying the problem of people having difficulties in accessing money ought to be addressed.
He said it is important that “we all work collectively to see how our banking sector, which is fortunately becoming stronger, finds a way of channelling monies and resources to some of you here so that we can begin to do things for our health system.”
“If we want to be a properly functioning country, we cannot continue to live of other people’s ingenuity and hard work. We have to live of our own ingenuity, creativity, and hard work. That is the only way we can build a viable nation,” the President noted.
He reiterated the government’s commitment to overcoming the pandemic, while urging all and sundry to put their shoulders to the wheel to help combat the spread of the virus.
Source: Daily Statesman
