The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said the difficulties in securing COVID-19 vaccines has taught him, his government and by extension the country a lesson to be self-reliant.
According to the President, at the expense of human lives, especially those in the less developed nations, geo-politics have surrounded the procurement of vaccines, stressing that the situation must not be taken lightly.
However, the development, the President believed, even provides an opportunity for investment and has, therefore, informed the private sector to be ready to partner government in that regard. He told the private sector he would invite them to invest in Ghana to locally manufacture its own vaccine.
The idea to have local institutions come together to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines stemmed from the numerous challenges surrounding the acquisition of vaccines in the heat of the pandemic, when citizens need to be inoculated.
President Akufo-Addo was speaking yesterday at Jubilee House, to captains of industries, both domestic and foreign, some of whom joined via the internet.
His statement followed a question asked of him by one of the participants who had joined from outside, via zoom. He asked about the state of the country’s fight against the pandemic.
In his response, President Akufo-Addo acknowledged there are obvious difficulties as far as the vaccination program is concerned.
He explained that, so far, through the COVAX facility Ghana received some 1.2million doses of the Astrazeneca vaccine, which has enabled her to fully vaccinate some 350,000 people, with some 850,000 having received their first dose.
“Unfortunately, we are the victims of this world-wide shortage of vaccines. Humanity, especially poorer less-advantaged nations are experiencing hardships in having access to the vaccines. So, that of course is the major challenge for us, President Akufo-Addo said in response to the question.
He continued that: “It has provided us a very important lesson among the many lessons that the COVID has revealed to us – the need for self-reliance in these areas. We cannot continue to depend on alms and charities of foreigners and foreign taxpayers for our basic sustenance.
We need to be able to put in place structures that will enable us in future [to be able to do our things].
“That is why we have to learn and find avenues to produce our own vaccines. I am particularly keen on providing the assistance to the institutions of our country to do so.”
The President further said Ghana, under his leadership, had put together a vaccine-producing committee, doing its best to mobilise all the resources available to produce vaccines.
He said the committee is to bring out a roadmap which will need the involvement of the private sector in the attempted action to move into the state of manufacturing.
Yesterday’s event saw President Akufo-Addo launching the Ghana Financing Roadmap for the realization of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the presence of Global CEOs.
In his address, he said Ghana’s commitment to the SDGs was borne out of a fundamental belief that the goals are at the heart of the development challenges that the nation faces.
The goals, he added, also offer significant prospects for Ghana’s transformation and development.
He told the gathering that the SDGs will continue to be the driving factors in the formulation of Ghana’s development policy, and of her overall resource allocation.
“One thing that is clear is that the pandemic has not only heightened our challenges, but it has also created new ones, and exacerbated the financing gap that we face in the implementation of the SDGs,” he said.
The President invited the private sector to take advantage of the $450 billion financing gap over the next decade to 2030, as it presents huge investment opportunities.
He cited that the SDGs-related business opportunities that presently exist in Ghana are in the areas of infrastructural development, agriculture, industry, energy, health, communication, education, and water and sanitation.
Meanwhile, the President of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, lamented the intense hardship brought about by the pandemic, despite the objective of the SDGs to eliminate same.
He noted that proactive measures ought to be put in placeto address the poor state of countries, especially the poorer countries, as a result of the COVID-19.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS