Renowned businessman, Dr. Anthony Oteng-Gyasi, has urged the Akufo-Addo government to pay more heed to advice from the Bretton Woods Institutions.

According to him, the Bretton Woods Institutions, i.e. the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were key architects in the remarkable economic success of countries like China and the Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan).

However, in Ghana’s case, he said, our leaders have taken to demonizing the Bretton Woods Institutions instead of making good use of their wealth of economic strategies and analysis to drive growth and development in the country.

Making the comment as part of his speech delivered at the University of Ghana’s 2023 Annual Alumni Lecture, the industrialist said our leaders’ fragile egos are what has largely accounted for the country's failing to make any major inroads from all the advice given by the Bretton Woods Institutions.

“One economist, well-known in Ghana, became the bank's principal economist and was instrumental in designing strategy and policy for China. Peter Harrold was the World Bank country director for Ghana and among his many battles was getting Ghanaians to accept the HIPC initiative.

“Our national pride was too fragile to accept the initiative!! Accepting debt forgiveness was considered demeaning. I wonder how many people still think that way today.

“From Ghana, Peter Harrold moved to China where he used the same analytical tools and expertise to make a huge difference. I strongly recommend a paper he edited with two others, titled: ‘Macroeconomic Management in China.’ It is from the papers presented at an economic conference in Dalian, China in 1993,” he said.

He continued, “The hard fact is that these institutions actually do more analytical work on our economy than we do ourselves. The least we can do is to seriously consider the policy options they suggest.”

He said Ghanaian leaders and academics must eschew the notion that no country has developed under the supervision of the Bretton Woods Institutions and must instead embrace the rather important work these institutions offer to national development.

“It is fashionable in Ghana to condemn these institutions and claim no country has developed under their watch. This is patently false. Across Asia, these institutions have given advice and helped nations grow their economies remarkably well.

“These institutions produced the Asian Tigers. In Africa, we want to be Lions but ignore the medicine the Asians took assiduously.

“From the free zones concept, as part of the export promotion strategy to the Gratis technology centres as a foundation for industrial development, and regular tax policy advice, the World Bank and IMF have given good and useful policy advice to our nation,” he said.