The flagbearer of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Mr Ivor Greenstreet has berated the Mahama-led administration for turning itself into a ‘shameful and disgraceful beggar’ who he said is running around begging for money from International partners.
According to him, a future CPP government will shift from such poor governance and ensure it maximizes its natural resources and tap the potential of almond, alone, to raise a lot of money for development.
“Why be shameful and disgraceful like the NDC, chasing the Chinese around in circles for US$ 3 billion when God has given is us fertile lands that with a little effort, we could aim to generate US$ 300 billion. Cut that target in half, even more than half and earning a US$100 billion alone will clear the country’s debts,” he added.
Mr. Greenstreet made the point when he took his turn to speak to Ghanaians on his party’s vision, in the run-up to the November polls, at the Institute of Economic Affairs’ (IEA), Evening Encounter Series.
He claimed the price on the international market for almond oil is well over US$ 10,000 a tonne, insisting that it was not prudent for the state to highly depend on Cocoa and Oil to generate revenue for development.
“Cocoa has never gone above US$3,600 a tonne. Oil palm is currently US$800 a tonne,” he noted.
He explained the move could leap the country’s finances to help address the development gap in the country.
“A rough estimate based on the above could potentially produce 30 million tonnes of oil, multiplied by 10 per litre and Ghana’s could potentially generate US$300 billion dollars,” he stated, adding: “Financing of this programme, will be made available from different local and international sources and it will be an incentive-based scheme based on out grower system.”
Source: GhanaWeb
