Kennedy Agyapong, a presidential aspirant, has described his recent vetting by the committee as a fair and open process, noting that the panel was not hostile and allowed him to fully explain his development ideas, including his advocacy for an “Asian model” approach.
Speaking to journalists after the vetting session, Agyapong said he outlined several strategies to address Ghana’s challenges.
“I enumerated a couple of points on how I’m going to address some problems. Basically, that was the interview,” he said.
He added that the committee asked reasonable and tangible questions but did not antagonize him, acknowledging that they were aware of his long-standing political experience and potential.
When asked about his reference to using the Asian model for Ghana’s development, Agyapong elaborated on his vision.
He explained that the Asian economic strategy involved governments identifying talented entrepreneurs and providing them with direct financial support to scale their businesses.
He cited examples from South Korea, where companies like Daewoo, Hyundai, and Samsung were funded through government loans targeted at raw materials and production inputs.
“The government would send money straight to the suppliers of raw materials, and closely monitor the timeline for delivery,” Agyapong said.
“If your raw materials were expected in three months, officials would inspect soon after to confirm receipt. This way, government and private sector worked as partners,” he added.
He emphasized that this approach helped entrepreneurs overcome the major challenge of capital, enabling them to build successful businesses and grow the economy.
According to Agyapong, this model has supported significant growth in countries such as India, Dubai, and other parts of Asia.
“This is how they’ve been able to expand their business. India, Dubai, all the Asian, that is how the model they use,” he stressed.
Turning to Ghana’s context, Agyapong argued that many local businesses struggle initially due to a lack of funding.
“And I think because Ghana, we don’t have capital for our businesses. You know, set up businesses, initially they are very tough. They lack finance.”
He called for bold government intervention to provide capital while ensuring accountability to prevent misuse of funds.
“Government should be bold to come in. But the boldness goes beyond that,” he said. “Government should be bold and also to punish people who take the money. I can tell you the truth. President Mahama did something which was very good.
I will not mention the outfit. He gave loans to people to expand their businesses. You know what he did? Instead of expanding their businesses, they bought treasury bills with the loans that they got.”
Source: www.Kumasimail/Kwadwo Owusu
