Mr President, let it happen here

Our President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, was in the Republic of Turkey last week to undertake two major assignments in the interest of the republic. The first was the inauguration of a new embassy building in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, for Ghana’s Mission after many years of diplomatic hiatus between the two countries. The President also addressed the opening session of the Ghana-Turkey Trade and Investment Forum in Istanbul, which was organised mainly by TUSKON, a conglomerate of Turkish businessmen and industrialists and the Turkish Ministry of Economy, with collaboration from the Ghana Free Zones Board. TUSKON could be likened to our Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) and it has as its aim helping Turkish companies to penetrate new markets, especially the unexplored ones in Africa. The President’s visit started to bear fruits before it came to official end, with the extension of a US$300 million credit to the country by the Turkish government through the Turkey Export and Import Bank (Exim Bank). Expressing his gratitude, President Mahama said the money would be used to expand the Tema Port, construct a new international airport and build of bridges and roads. Turkey is one of those countries that are not tagged as developed but are best described as emerging economies or newly developed countries. Others in the same group include Brazil, India, South Korea, Malaysia and strangely China, the country with the second largest and the fastest growing economy in the world. Apart from the Republic of South Africa, no other African country has emerged from the Third World, where the newly developed countries and the rest of Africa belonged 50 years ago, and South Africa’s status could be attributed to the apartheid era, when the Whites took control of political and economic administration of that country. The fresh and rapidly growing romance between Ghana and Turkey is bound to yield fruitful results as the signs are showing already. There is now a direct flight between Ghana and Turkey, by courtesy of Turkish Airlines, one of the largest in the world. There is also frequent exchanges between Ghanaian and Turkish businessmen and industrialists which are expected to yield mutual results for both parties. The most recent trade and investment forum in Istanbul was attended by over 60 Ghanaian businessmen and women. We hope that Ghanaian businessmen and women were not in Istanbul only to find out what goods to import into the country but also, and more importantly, what goods to export from Ghana to that country. The most significant thing is that both Ghana and Turkey were in the same trench many years ago, so there is common ground for understanding and cooperation in trade, business and cultural exchanges to serve their mutual interests. Ghana stands to gain more, if it would study and learn from how a fellow Third World country could emerge from that stage to become one of the world’s industrialised countries within such a relatively short period. In terms of natural resources, Turkey has no comparative advantage over Ghana. In fact, the reverse is the case. Turkey cannot boast of the mineral resources Ghana has. Its oil and gas industry is still at its infant stage and it cannot compare its oil resources to that of its southern neighbours—Iraq and Iran. Turkey’s economy is driven mainly by industry. It is into the construction of ships and the manufacture of vehicles, textiles and electronics and aircraft. Turkey is not rich in gold or diamond but it has one of the world’s largest factories that manufactures gold and diamond jewels in Istanbul. It has exploited to maximum advantage its geographical location which is at the crossroad of Europe and Asia. Nowhere is this evident than Istanbul, the largest and commercial heart of Turkey, which straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus, a narrow sea way that links the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Turkey is a tourist destination, with Istanbul alone receiving more than nine million visitors a year and historic sites such as its mosques, cathedrals and museums continue to attract tourists. Apart from industry and commerce, there are a lot that Ghana can learn from Turkey. One of the most unfortunate things about being driven in fast convoys is that you hardly see things clearly through the window of the speeding limousine. But I believe our President did not miss the transport system in Istanbul, a city of 13 million (2011 census), about half of Ghana’s national population. Istanbul is one of those places described as mega-cities in terms of land and population size. Accra is but a small place compared to this vast city. In this category are cities such as Tokyo (Japan), Mexico City (Mexico), Cairo (Egypt), Lagos (Nigeria), Seoul (South Korea), New York (USA), Jakarta (Indonesia) Sao Paolo (Brazil) and Shanghai (China). For a vast city like Istanbul which stretches over 150 kilometres in length, the transport system is near perfect. It has the metro or the underground system, the rail and the tram in addition to well-paved expressways and flyovers to take care of hundreds of thousands of vehicles of all descriptions. The traffic lights work 24 hours for seven days and the energy sapping and nerve wracking traffic jams are absent. For the Ghanaian, a journey between Istanbul and Ankara, the national capital, will make him or her miserable with self-pity if he/she compares it to a journey between Accra and Kumasi. As stated earlier, Turkey is no better than Ghana in terms of resources. The difference may lie in the people and their leadership. This is why I would appeal to President Mahama not to rest with what we can get from Turkey by way of assistance, but more importantly, what lessons could be learnt from their experience. The Turks are hardworking, so are Ghanaians. What they have which we are still searching for is a leadership that will marshal our resources and our human energies for development. We must resolve not to remain beggars forever. We must resolve to come out of poverty and underdevelopment just as countries like Turkey have done and have become our benefactors. I pray that our President will resolve that what he saw in Turkey will be replicated in this country within the shortest time. fokofi@yahoo.co.uk kofiakordor.blogspot.com