Akufo-Addo’s speech gives hope – Speaker | General news

Lecturer at Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) and finance and economics expert Dr Joseph Yensu praised President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for using the State of the Nation 2021 (SONA) address to call for unity.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Kumasi, Dr Yensu said he was particularly impressed by the President’s call for Ghanaians to work together for the progress of the country.

He said one of the good news from SONA was the revised capital requirement for the financial sector.

Capital requirement

He said the declining capital requirement, which has been the cry of many banks, would ensure that some local banks could stay in business and not have the practice of only international banks operating in the country.

Dr Yensu, who is also a former director of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) Kumasi campus, said President Akufo-Addo gave a very positive SONA.

He said there was a need to encourage and support local banks to operate and not leave everything to outsiders.

Despite this, Dr Yensu said it would be necessary for the central bank to monitor the system and ensure that banks comply with industry rules and regulations to maintain confidence in the banking sector.

LGBTQI

He said, however, that the President missed the opportunity to present the country’s position on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) discussion to “clearly state Ghana’s position. on the question and bring a purpose to the discussion ”. .

Again, he said that although the President had aligned programs to be undertaken by the government such as Agenda 111, “he did not tell us where we were going to get the resources to run such a program.”

Support for SMEs

He said President Akufo-Addo spoke about supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the COVID-19 pandemic and that while the effort was laudable, there was no mechanism to ensure that beneficiaries used support for intended purposes. ..

According to him, there were people who received the support but who were not in any company and he believed that if such interventions were not properly structured and controlled, “the government will continue to throw money under the pretext. to extend its support to SMEs as such, the money will never be recovered. All in all, it was a good address which gives hope to the people, ”he said.