Ghacif - Ghanaian Community In France Representative Council

Ghacif

FORWARD AS ONE PEOPLE, ONE NATION, WITH A COMMON DESTINY FOR GHANA @ 53

On the upcoming of the 53rd anniversary of the independence of our dear country, I take this opportunity to say a word of congratulations to the Honourable GHACIF President and his team for the tremendous work that have been undertaken so far, in mobilizing the Ghanaian community in France towards the development of Ghana and wish you all the success that you merit in your endeavours. I equally congratulate and encourage FEDGAF, in pursuance of giving a second image of the Ghanaian community in France and to all associations and individuals helping, in one way or the other, to promote the image of Ghana.

Special recognition is made here for Mrs AMOAKO, President of the APAE association, who has contributed tremendously to the promotion of Ghanaian culture in France.

The importance of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Ghana’s development, since the year 2000, has taken a new turn : from non-existence to a major key player. Diaspora was the name given to the countries (outside of Palestine) through which the Jews were dispersed, and secondarily to the Jews living in those countries. The Greek term, Diaspora, corresponds to the Hebrew meaning "exile" (cf. Jeremiah 24:5).

The term diaspora holds the idea of having crossed a border. We say the more difficult is behind us. This passage was not achieved without cost : at times it was total disintegration of family units, at times, dissolution of our human existence itself etc. Despite these setbacks the will of staying together or rather being related has been our primary force.

Ghana is 53 this year. When we review this era of independence, we realise that our predecessors have done a lot and much remains to be done by our generation and the future generations to come to bring real development and self-accomplishment to Ghanaians. The question we ask ourselves today is : what can we also do for Ghana to enhance durable development? The needs of our country, in terms of development are numerous, heterogeneous and interrelated. This is equally true with solutions that can be adopted. Our political independence will be meaningless unless it is linked with the pursuance of a durable socio-economic development

Up to the late 1960s, Ghana was a country of net immigration, but economic deterioration led to the expulsion from Ghana of around 250,000 mainly West African migrants between 1969 and early 1970.

The current number of Ghanaian émigrés is uncertain, but several estimates have been made. A recent estimate of Ghana’s migration arrived at a figure of three million Ghanaians abroad, compared to a resident population of about 23 million. In France, the Ministry of Interior, estimated the Ghanaian population at 3 614, in 2006 (comment). It can therefore be affirmed that today, between 15 to 20, out of 100, Ghanaians live in the Diaspora

The Ghanaian Diaspora is, before everything, a community of Ghanaians. We have the responsibility to defend and uphold our societal values in every corner of the globe that we might find ourselves. We have the obligation to assist or help our compatriots who are more or less endowed with less economic resources. It is an obligation to participle in the development our country. It is also our right to claim what every Ghanaian deserves as a Ghanaian

Information accessible at the Bank of Ghana reveals that from January to November 2006, private inward transfers from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), individuals and other institutions through the Bank of Ghana and other financial institutions stood at US$4.25 billion, representing the largest source of foreign exchange into the country.

Again, for the first quarter of 2007, according to figures released by the Bank of Ghana, remittances to the country totalled US$1.52 billion, representing an increase of about 17.1 per cent over the same period last year.

Of the total transfers from January to November 2005, the central bank estimates that $1.27 billion (30 percent of total transfers) represented remittances from individuals. That is more than Ghana received in foreign aid last year, and slightly smaller than what was promised by our donor partners. Furthermore, money transferred to Ghana from individuals alone was more than half of Ghana’s total export earnings of $2.73 billion. It was more than the country earned from gold ($945.8m); more than cocoa earnings ($843.2m); and certainly more than our export earnings from the fast-rising non-traditional exports ($829.5m).

Much can also be said about the ways these transfers and remittances are executed. These facts however illustrate the important contribution of the Ghanaian community living outside the country, towards the socio-economic independence of our nation.

According to a study (The Impact of Migrant Remittances on Household Welfare in Ghana By Peter Quartey) focused on the impact of migrant remittances on household welfare in Ghana. It was found that migrant remittances improves household welfare and the flow of migrant remittances to Ghana increases in times of economic shocks, hence, they are counter-cyclical. In conclusion, there has been considerable increase in inflows of migrant remittances to Ghana and these remittances have not only improved household welfare but have become an important source of income for consumption smoothing in Ghana

The existence of this enormous financial and human resources, raises the question of how best they can be mobilized to propel a durable development in Ghana, instead of being basically resources for immediate consumption.

As the Chinese adage goes, we need to train fishermen and the people will always have fish on their plates rather than punctually giving out fish to the people. These investments should be channelled, in priority, to sectors than can sustain the economic growth durably :

o Industries linked with the utilisation of locally produced raw materials.
o Sectors, which require heavy investments, but the return on investments are on the long-term thus infrastructural projects. This can be done with the state’s commitment as a guarantor of such investments
o Encourage development of rural industries to forestall urban migration (de-concentration // delocalisation)
It is easy to ask people to invest but it is very important to assure them that their capital is secured. At present a lot of entities take advantage of our community’s ignorance as to judicial protection in place in Ghana for investments. Entities crops up without control and any protection for potential investors. Real confidence has to be installed through adequate juridicial frameworks to promote the mobilisation of funds for investments.

Economic force is not incompatible with political force. If Ghana is thriving positively today, I believe the input of the Diaspora in Ghanaian politics in recent years has been of much importance. Our community cannot be passive as to how the country is governed. The ROPAL bill, is supposed to permit us to participate directly in the democratic dispensation at home. It is through such means that we can channel our preoccupations to authorities in Ghana and share our experiences with our brethrens. We therefore call on the Government and the Electoral Commission to review, if necessary and accelerate it’s implementation. We require also that Parliament integrate elected representatives of our community.

Finally, we have a socio-cultural role to play in the development of our nation. We of the Diaspora have the opportunity to blend with different cultures. Certain practices we shun upon here, once we return home, we take them upon our shoulders and propagate these negative practices back home, just because we are Burgers. It is our responsibility to share the richness of what we have received here with our countrymen, through :

o Cultural exchange programs
o Intervention in non-governmental organisations when we are on holidays
o Making available our expertise through organised interactions with interested organisations

We can’t be exhaustive on contributions that we can make towards the development of Ghana. I will conclude on the importance of a real mobilization of our community by our Embassies. We know now that we can equally provide resources for the development of Ghana, as our donor partners. It is therefore urgent that a new relationship, not based on the provision of passports, is installed. Real business promotion services should be put in place. Ressourcing of talents - managerial, professional or sportive for various sectors, should be pursued. Coordination and facilitation of actions undertaken by the different associations should be privileged and publicised to promote more national awareness within the Diaspora.

We need to move forward as one people, one nation with a common destiny.

Nana Opuni Dua Ware 1
Prof. Richard OSEI KWASI