Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Philip Addison, has called on African and Caribbean economies to work to bridge the infrastructural and economic bottlenecks that exist between the two economic areas.
He has therefore called for more investment I air and Maritime to bring the two economic zones closer together to do business.
The Governor held the view that investment in an African-Caribbean airline will lead to unprecedented integration between the two culturally related economic blocks.
He made this call during a panel discussion on the second day of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) yesterday.
Dr Addison said, “trade is largely influenced by the size of our economy. Trade is also inversely proportional to the geographic distance between the two trading blocs. So, the biggest problem that we have with African-Caribbean trade is about the distance – major infrastructural bottlenecks.”
He also noted that there were other areas of mutual cooperation in which the two blocs could derive benefits, such as incorporation if technology into the payments system.
The Governor further advised African governments to implement policies that will serve as buffers against economic shocks.
He said, “we all need to put into place policies that enhance our buffers against the shocks that emanate from the global environment.”
It includes improving resource mobilisation locally, it includes putting into place policies that will enhance savings to finance development and growth in our regions and it also includes policies that will help develop our local domestic finance market,” he noted.
All of these, Dr Addison believes, are indirectly very critical to bridging the issues of poverty and unemployment under control.
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith
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