Ghana’s economic independence was lost when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was removed from power, according to Dr. Ishmael Yamson, former Unilever Ghana boss and Chairman of MTN Board.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on March 6, he reflected on Ghana’s early economic vibrancy and how it declined after Nkrumah’s overthrow in 1966.

“We were very proud to be Ghanaians after independence. Anytime I walked into Unilever House in London, every African identified as Ghanaian, and the British thought every African was Ghanaian. We were very, very proud of ourselves,” he recalled.

Dr Yamson argued that Nkrumah had laid a solid foundation for Ghana’s economic independence, but his removal derailed that progress.

“We gained political independence, and Nkrumah set us on a track to gain economic independence. But that died when he was removed from power. At the time, I had just come out of university, and I could see the vibrancy of the Ghanaian economy,” he said.

He described a booming industrial sector in Tema during the 1960s, with factories running across the country.

“Everywhere you turned, you could hear industrialisation taking place. Nkrumah, in that short period, set up almost 400 vertically integrated manufacturing companies.

"These factories had raw materials locally available. I remember my first Volkswagen—the tyres were made at the Bonsa Tyre Factory. There was a rubber plantation feeding the factory, producing tyres for cars. What else did we want at that time?”

However, he said Ghana’s industrial trajectory changed drastically after Nkrumah’s overthrow.

“The moment Nkrumah was removed, everything went downhill. And that’s why I have always had a problem with the so-called Bretton Woods institutions. They forced the military government to close down a whole lot of these factories,” he lamented.

Dr Yamson recalled that during his tenure as Chairman of Unilever, over 370 state-owned enterprises were identified for divestiture.

While he acknowledged that involving the private sector was necessary, he argued that the process was poorly executed.

“Nkrumah himself lamented that the state-owned enterprises meant to fuel industrialisation were making losses. So divesting and bringing the private sector in wasn’t wrong. But we didn’t act judiciously. How many of those companies are left now? Most of them died,” he stated.

He criticised the continued mismanagement of state enterprises, citing the Finance Minister’s recent report at the National Economic Dialogue.

“Only two of them are making money. All the rest make losses. Why? Because they serve political interests instead of their intended purpose,” he said.

Dr. Yamson also expressed deep concern over Ghana’s repeated dependence on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), warning against another bailout.

“How can a country in 68 years go to the IMF for rescue 17 times? Let’s pray we don’t go for an 18th time. Like the British say, ‘The situation is difficult, but it’s not hopeless.’ I still have hope that if we commit to the reset agenda, as we have all diagnosed and proposed, we shouldn’t go for the 18th time.”