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Ghana and Globalisation In the age of globalisation, where labour, capital and production move across national borders with relative ease, often at the expense of poor countries like Ghana, it is important that we adopt policies that protect us against the harmful effects of globalisation while also taking advantage of its benefits. This we will do through the following: Ghanaian Diaspora and Political Participation
The most recent effort to incorporate Ghanaians living abroad into our national development agenda, ROPAA, is logistically impossible to implement. It also gives the Ghanaian Diaspora an opportunity to participate in national development only once every 4 years. The CPP offers a better option by proposing a law that would enable Ghanaians living abroad to have direct representation in Parliament through people that they would elect abroad at their own expense. We envisage a representative each from Ghanaian associations from 4 geographic areas like the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Each representative shall be given half a vote in Parliament but would otherwise enjoy the same privileges as other parliamentarians. This is a win-win proposition that would give our sisters and brothers abroad the opportunity to raise issues of interest to them through their representatives in Ghana, while at the same time contributing to the development of the land of their birth.
International Professionals Forum of Ghana (IPFG)
The continued loss of Ghanaian professionals to the outside world remains a major challenge to our national development effort. While there has been some reverse migration in recent years, on average more skilled Ghanaians leave than do return. We shall set up the International Professionals Forum of Ghana (IPFG) to foster cooperation between Ghanaian professionals at home and abroad in areas such as education, health, economics and engineering as an important part of our human resource development and management agenda. Relations with African Countries Our relations with fellow African countries will be a continuation of the leadership role Ghana played in the continent’s independence in the 1960s. Among specific activities of intra-continental cooperation will be the following: - Increased cultural cooperation, such as exchange programmes in television and radio broadcasts, including documentaries from which we can learn and share common experiences
- Introduce an annual African SoundSplash lasting a week that will bring together some of the finest musicians on the continent. This will be rotated around the continent.
- Propose, and host the inaugural event, an annual African Science and Technology Fair for intellectual exploration of the field by Africans and dynamic discussions of the application of science and technology in Africa’s development
- Aggressively support the Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF), which is financed by member states’ public insurance funds, as part of a larger strategy to promote trade across the continent. Improved infrastructure will reduce transportation costs and create a more compelling case for increased trade among our countries.
- At the political level, support efforts to attain African unity. Continued lack of unity, with common political, economic and social institutions, leaves us vulnerable to political manipulation from abroad.
Relations with non-Ghanaian Diaspora
We remain mindful of the role played by many non-Ghanaian Diasporans, such as W.E.B., Dubois and George Padmore. As Pan-Africanists, we believe that Africans, no matter where they were born or live, share common problems (such as discrimination) and aspirations (to attain the highest of their potential). We will therefore continue to collaborate with the non-Ghanaian Diaspora in a wide variety of areas, ranging from science and technology to literature to commerce and sports. Relations with Donors
We appreciate the assistance that Ghana has received from its donors over the years, especially in periods of severe economic and social difficulties. But we also acknowledge that excessive dependence on donors for our basic needs, such as food, education, and health services, diminishes our dignity as human beings and threatens our efforts to build a proud and successful society.
We will continue to cooperate with all nations and international organisations that wish us well, but in order to ensure that those who fought for our independence did not do so in vain, we need to start a purposeful process of reducing and ultimately eliminating our dependence on donors. This is embedded in our strategy for national development. Relations with Rest of the World
Our relations with the rest of the world will be driven by the desire to pursue the national interest at all times and will be governed by the principle of mutual respect, the protection of the sovereignty of the Republic of Ghana, as well as the projecting of Ghana onto the world stage as a leader in such fields as education, science and technology.
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