Ghana president urges industrialization to achieve sustainable growth

For Africa's sub-regions to experience sustainable growth, an aggressive pursuit of industrialization has become more compelling, Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana said here on Thursday.

In his message at the opening of the Maiden West Africa Industrial Summit, Mahama insisted that this approach would help reduce the exposure of the sub-regional economies to external shocks while providing decent jobs.

The summit organized by sub-regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is within the West Africa Common Industrial Policy with its main vision as maintaining a solid industrial structure.

The sub-region seeks to build an industrial structure that is globally competitive; environment-friendly and capable of significantly improving the living standards of the people by 2030.

The one day summit organized by sub-regional the sub-regional bloc under the theme; "Promoting investment to accelerate the industrialization of ECOWAS" will discuss means of accelerating the industrialization agenda and private sector development in West Africa.

He said West Africa needs a focused approach in supporting key areas such as the provision of electricity to impel industrialization; curbing hunger and malnutrition; improvement in rural life; ensuring food self-sufficiency; as well as the expansion of basic social services as the current trail.

In his remarks read for him, Marcel Allain De Souza, President of the West African sub-regional bloc ECOWAS underscored the need for cooperation among the states in their industrial development.

He observed that the sub-region has remained largely an importer of finished products, exporter of unprocessed primary products with the contribution of industry to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of West Africa less than 7.0 percent.

"Industrialization cannot happen in the sub-region if the business environment and competitiveness are not there," De Souza remarked. Endit