Agenda for Spio-Garbrah at MOTI
It was good news hearing of the appointment of Dr Spio-Garbrah as the new Minister of Trade and Industry (MoTI) in the latest and obviously final round of President Mahama’s reshuffle.
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Even though several theories have been propounded by political pundits for the appointment of Dr Spio-Garbrah and Dr Benjamin Kumbuor to the cabinet, the most prominent one being the NDC party taking centre stage in the governance process, nevertheless, the appointment is most welcome.
However, the euphoria and excitement surrounding the appointment of Dr Spio-Garbrah is nevertheless in no way to denigrate the efforts of his compatriots Honourable Haruna Iddrissu and Honourable Serwaa Tetteh who earlier on occupied the portfolio of Minister of Trade and Industry in the second coming of the NDC.
In spite of the various views expressed by some analysts that it would have been better to appoint him as the Energy Minister or the Foreign Minister where his huge international clout would have served the nation better, nevertheless, the announcement of Dr. Spio-Garbrah as the new Minister of Trade and Industry is most welcome by the business and financial fraternity.
The man Dr Spio-Garbrah
Our compatriots who were not old enough in January 1993 or even not born at all then have missed a great opportunity of recollection of the confirmation hearings of Dr Spio-Garbrah at the vetting committee of parliament, then chaired by the respected international civil servant, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas who was then Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
Then an unknown face on the political terrain, the young Spio-Garbrah, then 39 years got the whole nation standing on its feet by the incisive answers he gave at the appointments committee particularly the answer he gave to the effect that he hopes the President can send him instructions that he can easily carry out as information minister.
His huge pedigree, having served at the communications directorate of the World Bank and the African Development Bank as well as Hill and Knowlton, the renowned PR firm in the US made a huge impression on Ghanaians.
Nonetheless, by one omission of a constitutional duty of failing to register as a voter to qualify for appointment as a minister, he could not scale through the appointment process and was eventually appointed as Ambassador to the US. From his sojourn in the US where he was no stranger, he subsequently became the Minister of Communications and Education.
Following the loss of the elections by the NDC in 2000, Dr Spio-Garbrah hanged around for sometime in an executive position at the NDC headquarters. He later became the head of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation and then in pursuit of his faith, became the CEO of Action Chapel and concurrently the president of its university, Dominion University College.
The euphoria over Dr Spio-Garbrah’s appointment
This article has been inspired by a profound exposé on the career of Dr Spio-Garbrah during his stint at the international public relations firm, Hill and Knowlton in the US where as part of his portfolio, he helped companies from Czech Republic to find markets for their products in the US.
It is a fact that the economy is currently reeling under pressure which has been diagnosed by economic pundits as the nation under performing with its exports which has always been the case in relation to imports and thus created balance of payment problems for the country.
If the clarion call has always been for the nation to scale up exports to correct its BoP deficits, then the arrival at MoTI of Dr Spio-Garbrah who has practical experience in finding markets for countries like the Czech Republic portends good news for the country.
Nevertheless, I believe that beyond the skill and experience of Dr Spio-Garbrah in finding markets for the country’s exports and obviously helping in correcting our BoP deficits, he would also do well to take a close look at some complementary issues which if implemented together will make his time at MoTI a memorable one.
Restructuring of MoTI
It is my considered opinion that Dr Spio-Garbrah, upon assumption of office should take a review of the activities of the ministry and restructure it properly to achieve its investment objectives. I suggest that the ministry should be renamed the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investments to direct its focus on investments as well. This will obviously call for the amalgation of the office of the Minister of Public and Private Sector Partnership currently headed by Honourable Rashid Pelpuo with MoTI to focus the direction of the ministry on investments.
A proper focus on investments by the ministry will enable it to build capacity on investments and set up the requisite divisions to conduct the necessary indepth studies and co-ordination on investments to guide the nation’s investment drive.
In this respect, it will be necessary to lobby the presidency for GIPC to be placed under the ministerial supervision of MoTI for proper co-ordination of investments and the formulation of policies on investment promotion.
Another area worth the attention of Dr Spio-Garbrah with regard to the internal workings of the ministry will be the need to set up an economic analysis department to conduct the necessary studies on the macro and micro economic impacts on trade of fiscal policies as a guide in the formulation of trade and investment policies.
To strengthen the ministry further, there is also the need to empower the one man legal directorate of the ministry at present into a vibrant legal directorate of about four lawyers well versed in international trade law to offer the needed legal support in our dealings with international trade bodies and in negotiating bilateral and multilateral trade agreements.
To ensure the effective integration of the ministry into the economy and help it fulfil its role of providing direction for our trade and investment policies, I suggest to Dr Spio-Garbrah to look at the possibility of appointing a special trade commissioner with the mandate to negotiate bilateral and multilateral investment treaties and trade agreements for the purpose of scaling up investments in Ghana and ensuring favourable access of Ghana’s export products into international markets.
The special trade commissioner should also have the mandate to co-ordinate the trade and investment desks at our foreign missions and ensure that all vacancies are filled as a matter of urgency to lend support to our trade and investment drive.
One issue which should engage the attention of Dr Spio-Garbrah is the need for the appointment of an ambassador to the WTO to make our case for the curtailment of our unbridled trade liberalisation which at present is taking a huge toll on the economy.
Competition Commission and the promulgation of a Competition Law
There is no denying the fact that there is the imperative need for the establishment of a competition commission in Ghana to streamline unfair business practices as undercutting of prices and abuse of dominant positions.
Recently, at the inauguration of a cement factory by the Addobe Group of Morocco at Tema, the former minister of trade and industry, Haruna Iddrisu lamented about the possible collusion of cement producers to fix arbitrary prices for cement.
He spoke about the intention of the government to set up a competition commission and promulgate a competition law to check such abuses which has a real possibility of occurring in sectors of the economy as telecommunications and banking.
It is envisaged that should the era of consolidation occur in such sectors like banking, insurance, telecommunications etc. due to new policy initiatives and merges and acquisitions, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might be found wanting as being incapable of dealing with competition issues on a constant and regular basis.
Besides, all emerging economies and even little Gambia have competition commissions and competition laws to streamline such issues concerned with approvals of mergers and acquisitions and the possible abuse of customers by dominant companies. Towards this end, the MoTI will have to collaborate with the Attorney-General’s Department to conduct a stakeholders’ forum for collation of views on the promulgation of a competition law and the setting up of a competition commission.
International Trade Commission
It would be recalled that in 2009 or 2010, then minister of trade and industry, Honourable Hannah Serwaa Tetteh in a major policy speech outlining the direction of the ministry spoke about the intention of the ministry to set up two key bodies to help the ministry restructure its trade relations. These are the Tariff Advisory Board and the International Trade Commission. The Tariff Advisory Board was meant to be the precursor of the international Trade Commission to receive complaints from importers and local manufacturers about unfavourable trade practices.
It was envisaged that the Tariff Advisory Board will metamorphose into the International Trade Commission by 2013. While the Tariff Advisory Board must be commended for its proactiveness in dealing with complaints of cement producers about possible dumping by cement importers and also under declaration by fruit juice importers, there is an urgent need for the actualisation of the International Trade Commission. The setting up of the ITC will enable MoTI to have a specialised body of experts to conduct in depth studies into trade abuses and receive complaints from importers and local manufacturers to streamline the grievance procedure and propose measures to rectify unfair trade practices.
Establishment of Export Bank
The Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (Edaif) has played a pivotal role since its inception in propping up exports and providing financial support to exporters. However, the bulk of the Edaif funds have been provided by levies on imports which makes the funding options limited. Even though some diverse views have been expressed about the unsuitability of converting the Edaif fund into a bank, it is appropriate to convert the Edaif fund into a bank to enable it mobilise the critical funding from internal and external sources to deepen the financial intermediation in export financing and help to boost exports.
Research and Development
It is a fact that nations which have achieved excellence in industrial production have all done so on the back of research and development. Several governments particularly the US, Britain, Germany, India etc. have provided generous incentives to their industries to enable them embark on research and development to aid their industrial production.
Particular mention could be made of incentives and subsidies which were granted by the US government to Boeing and by Britain, Spain and France to Airbus to aid them in their research and development efforts. This has made them to achieve a competitive edge in the aviation industry.
Other areas requiring attention
The MoTI as part of its overall objective of spearheading the industrial policy of the government and creating employment might also do well to look at such areas as initiating policies to encourage franchising, licencing, technology transfer and ethical investment practices. It should for example be possible for MoTI to initiate policies for successful multinationals to cede about 10 per cent-15 per cent of their equity to Ghanaians through the Stock Exchange.
I wish you a successful tenure, Dr Spio-Garbrah as the new minister of trade and industry.
The writer is a lawyer with specialisation in international business law.
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