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Will reassessing liberalisation policy cost us?

Unless a reassessment of the country’s trade liberalisation policy would greatly harm us or cost us a further fall of the cedi thus worsening our economic plight, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand why we continue to import virtually anything into our market.  Imports which are far in excess of our exports are choking us.

 There is one lesson that I know discerning individuals, as well as institutions, apply to their lives and operations and that is adjusting to the vicissitudes of life.  

A Twi saying that when situations change, you also change your ways comes to mind here.   In the name of free trade and at a time when our economy is burdened, sometimes with needless imports, why do we continue to allow things that add little value to our lives to come in?

A friend and I stopped for lunch the other day at a restaurant in Accra.  At meal time when we asked to be served with mineral water, the waiter asked whether we preferred still or sparkling water.    

We both asked to share a bottle of 1.5 litre still water.  Expecting to see any of the brands produced here on our market, to our amazement, the waiter brought a bottle of 750 millilitres imported water bearing the brand name Aqua Panna and started to open it.  

In awe, we told him we were proud Ghanaians and would prefer any of the locally produced mineral water.  He retorted that they do not serve any of the locally produced mineral water in that restaurant.  

Eventually, the price we paid for the 750 millilitres of water bottled from a source in Tuscany in Italy, could have bought us a full box of locally produced mineral water.  We vowed never to patronise a restaurant with that service again.

Since that experience, I have made a conscious effort to look at shelves in supermarkets and shops to see the space occupied by imported mineral water.  

The variety is puzzling with some described as sourced from famous natural springs, while others are acclaimed to be “the healthiest water”. The last time  I checked, some of the locally produced mineral water is “pure” and sourced from virgin springs too.

But the question is, where there is no shortage, why do we import something like mineral water from other countries to the extent that public restaurants are denying clients the right to preference?  

That is why one is inclined to support a call made by the President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr James Asare-Adjei, a few weeks ago.  During the investiture of the new executive of the Advertising Association of Ghana, the AGI President suggested that the government instituted measures to reassess the trade liberalisation policy while still promoting international trade.

The thing is, at a time when the country’s economy is struggling to stay above waters, a period when businesses are either laying off workers or are shutting down and, therefore, compounding our unemployment situation, we are indirectly giving jobs to nationals of other countries and building their economies for them by importing their finished products.

We know that the manufacturing sector contributes to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and it is in our interest to see them grow.  So why would we not encourage them but instead, open our doors so wide for imports to displace the products these manufacturers put out?  Sometimes, our products are of comparable quality to the foreign ones.

What is even hurting is that some of these foreign products  are cheap grey imports which do not compare in quality and taste to what is being offered by our local manufacturers.  Yet, because of the blanket liberalisation policy, anything  finds its way here at the expense of our people. 

Yes, competition is good.  It is indeed healthy and we should be seen to be encouraging it.  We should try and support healthy competition among our own local manufacturers, for that is one of the best ways they can continue to innovate, and improve to upon the quality of their products excite the consumer and grow.  In addition, as they grow, they would necessitate more jobs, support our GDP growth and create wealth for local investors.

We need to take another look at the trade liberalisation policy in view of our current circumstances.  We need a fresh environmental scan, examining critically, our internal and external circumstances and see if the advantages of an amended trade policy would today not stand us in good stead.  

Using scarce foreign exchange to import mineral water over and above what we source from our natural springs and deny clients the taste of locally produced water at a public restaurant is mind boggling.  What is the message here?

 

Writer's email: [email protected]

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