The President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Dr. Humphrey Ayim-Darke, has described the Covid-19 pandemic as a missed golden opportunity for Ghana to transform its economic structure and accelerate industrialization.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, April 11, Dr. Ayim-Darke expressed disappointment over the country’s failure to pivot meaningfully towards self-reliance and manufacturing in the aftermath of the pandemic.
He believes that this failure is now being exposed by recent global shocks, including the 10% tariff imposed on Ghanaian exports such as cocoa by the United States.
“The general, broad assurance is there,” Dr. Ayim-Darke said, referencing statements from government officials about Ghana’s readiness to recalibrate its economy. “But you know, there are some externalities, or external factors. When they befall a nation, no matter the assurance from the President… they are beyond your control.”
He identified the U.S. tariffs as a textbook example of such external shocks and emphasized the need for the nation to internalize these risks and prepare accordingly. “This is one clear case of an external factor. How do you manage it? How do you mitigate it?”
Dr. Ayim-Darke believes Ghana should have used the Covid-19 crisis as an opportunity to reduce dependency on imports and strengthen local manufacturing capacity. “The case of Covid-19 showed us one clear example,” he said, questioning how the government had promoted local manufacturing in response to the pandemic. “How did we execute the fallout of Covid-19? How did we deliberately promote local manufacturing companies? That example is there, but how many companies can we count out beyond that?”
He criticized the government’s economic restructuring narrative, suggesting that while optimistic, it lacks practical substance. “That said, assurance is not sufficient because there are other obstacles,” he stressed. “Recovery couldn’t take advantage of the situation to industrialize.”
Dr. Ayim-Darke pointed to the energy sector as an example where Ghana has attempted to implement local content policies, such as encouraging companies to produce cables, conductors, and set up meter assembly plants in collaboration with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). However, he questioned how successful these initiatives have been over the years.
He warned that the country continues to suffer from a structural economic imbalance dominated by imports. “The structure of the economy is still highly dominant with imports,” he said. “So if Covid couldn’t give us that reawakening to correct issues, and we could see such mistakes still occurring, what is the probability that we could take our destiny into our own hands, even with this Liberation Day declaration?”
Dr. Ayim-Darke concluded with a sobering note: “It’s full of talk that we need,” implying that rhetoric without execution has become the norm, and Ghana risks repeating the same cycles of economic vulnerability unless it takes bold steps to industrialize and mitigate future shocks like the recent U.S. tariffs.