Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has called on Ghana to draw lessons from Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s Seven-Year Development Plan in addressing the country’s persistent economic challenges.
He noted that the transformative plan, which covered 1963 to 1970, had a long-term vision and deliberately invested in infrastructure, education, energy, industry and social services, creating national assets that continued to serve generations.
He argued that the policy represented one of the most comprehensive attempts by post-independence governments to transform Ghana’s colonial economic structure and lay the foundation for economic independence even though it encountered some challenges.
Mr Pratt made the call in Cape Coast when he delivered the 15th Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Lecture series organised by the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
The two-day lecture was on the theme: “Kwame Nkrumah yesterday, today and tomorrow: Perspectives on constitutionalism, development and Pan-Africanism.”
Mr Pratt, who is also Pan-Africanist and a political analyst, observed that the plan was built around six key areas comprising state-led industrialisation, economic diversification, agricultural modernisation, infrastructure development, human capacity and an African economic purpose.
He said Nkrumah recognised that political independence without transforming the colonial economic structure would remain incomplete, as the economy was largely dependent on the export of cocoa, gold, timber and other raw materials, and the importation of manufactured goods, a pattern that persists today.
In that regard, he said Nkrumah embarked on state-led industrialisation which created State enterprises in manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, hospitality and other sectors.
“Second was economic diversification. Ghana’s heavy dependence on cocoa exposed the country to fluctuations in world commodity prices. Industrialisation was intended to reduce this vulnerability, create employment and retain more value within the national economy,” he added.
Mr Pratt noted that for Nkrumah, industry and agriculture could not be treated as opposing sectors and modern agriculture was expected to supply food, industrial raw materials, employment and export revenue.
On infrastructure, he cited the Akosombo Dam and Volta River Project, Tema Harbour, roads, electricity, Tema Township and industrial estates as major investments intended to provide the foundation for productive economic activity.
Nkrumah invested in education and human capacity by expanding primary, secondary, technical and university education to produce the skilled workforce needed for national development.
“This point is especially significant at the University of Cape Coast. This institution emerged from the determination to train the educators needed for Ghana’s expanding school system.
“It demonstrates that Nkrumah’s development strategy was not confined to factories and dams. It also invested in the human beings who would operate and sustain a modern society,” he added.
In furtherance of the Pan African agenda, the Seven-Year Plan linked Ghana’s development to the wider economic advancement of Africa, seeking to reduce colonial dependency and build a productive continental economy,” Mr Pratt stated.
Mr Pratt acknowledged that the development plan faced some serious challenges, including the collapse of world cocoa prices, increased external debt, shortages, inflation and weaknesses in the administrative and financial capacity of the state.
“The correct lesson is not to abandon national planning or industrialisation, but to combine them with stronger management, accountability, technological competence, realistic sequencing and disciplined evaluation,” he said.
Mr Pratt firmly debunked the assertion that Nkrumah destroyed the economy when he took over as President, an accusation that ostensibly contributed to his overthrow.
“Nkrumah did not destroy a diversified, industrial and self-sufficient economy. He inherited a dependent commodity-export economy and attempted to transform it. That attempt produced major national assets,” he stressed.
GNA
