An old cynic and acquaintance of mine, pointed it out to me just the other day, that it appears that as a people we continuously focus on the wrong groups, amongst our educated urban elites - when apportioning blame for the continued lack of prosperity amongst the generality of the Ghanaian populace.
The radio and television pundits are obsessed with politicians and governments - as are most ordinary Ghanaians. No doubt, that helps improve good governance levels in our country - and enhances Ghana's democratic culture.
However, the bottom line is that in today's world, the actual job of African governments, is simply to create a conducive environment for the private sector to thrive in - and in tandem offer imaginative and visionary leadership that is truly world-class.
No government in the Africa of today, can create sustainable employment in the numbers needed, to impact society positively. For that, alas, we must of necessity look to the African private sector.
That selfsame acquaintance, also made the point - valid in my view - that the real villains who have failed Ghanaians over the years and successfully escaped public opprobrium, have been our nation's bright crop of bankers - who are members of what he insists are a mostly-unimaginative, intellectually-lazy, well-paid and over-pampered "Shylock-class".
In his opinion, were bankers in Ghana not so risk-averse, and keen to maintain the status quo, they could make a huge difference to the real economy. Instead, we see them endlessly profiting from government paper - and going through the motions of banking: instead of being in the vital business of actually lending money to Ghana's SME's.
Perhaps if we had a more intellectually rigorous media, able to focus on the national economy and hold regulators and players in various sectors to account, our nation would be better served by Ghanaian journalists, in that regard.
The Ghanaian media must start questioning the negativity of those who are failing to ensure that instead of being lumbered with a parasitic banking industry, growing fat on government paper, banks in our country actually perform the role in the Ghanaian economy, for which they were issued licenses to operate - and provide loans at reasonable rates of interest to small and medium scale businesses: which will ultimately impact the real economy positively, and underpin sustained economic growth for the enterprise Ghana.
If truth be told, Ghana can only become prosperous, if our nation's private sector grows and creates real jobs for our country's teeming youth - and that can only happen if Ghana's entrepreneurial class was served by a more dynamic banking industry, brimming with cutting edge wealth-creating ideas and financial products.
Above all, banks in Ghana must be in a position to loan businesses money at reasonable rates of interest - not the present regime of usurious rates of interest: the end result of which is only to turn leveraged companies into mostly-distressed entities, forever slaving to keep banks in Ghana afloat, and make our perfidious fat-cat bankers grow even richer.
Now that wealth-destroying rampant inflation seems to be a thing of the past, perhaps the question we must pose to the employees of our central bank is: Precisely what is the Bank of Ghana doing to end this pernicious situation, one wonders?
Post Script:
And whiles they are about it, can those clever souls who beaver away at the Bank of Ghana, daily, on our behalf, tell this particular old fool and financial illiterate (yours truly!), exactly what calamity would befall our homeland Ghana, were our nation's entrepreneurs and SME's able to borrow money from our crafty banks, at say between 1.5 percent and 3.5 percent - and ought that not really to be an eventual policy goal? An answer, anyone, from the banking industry in Ghana?
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
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