I am reliably told Ghana has made a new import from Dubai. This time it is in the looks of an interchange. Well I shall soon visit the capital and witness the Dubai that has come to Ghana. I am hoping to be in the company of my NDC comrade, a nephew of an NDC MP and deputy minister of state who considers my criticism development opposition.
I am even told Madam Akua Donkor says its Miami in Ghana. Well I don’t blame her that much because unlike her I am not privileged to join the presidency on trips abroad to attests to Miami’s looks. But I am certainly not sure that Miami’s looks is entirely the result of an interchange. Or better still some shining night view. What is beautiful at night must equally be beautiful in the day.
I have told many of the jubilant compatriots that their mood is understandable for two reasons. One they want to score political points and two they are yet to visit the oil fields. The latter at night looks more beautiful than their Dubai and Miami combined.
Moreover, who said Ghanaians want Dubai or Miami in Ghana? Worst of all the Dubai they are claiming to have suddenly surfaced in Ghana is aiming higher and here we are enthused about it mirage.
The NDC seem obsessed with infrastructure and has even become more tensed in the heat to the general elections to the extent that they are spinning even non-existing ones. Some commissioned ones are also not working yet highly touted in their green book. The Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange which I learnt they now call it flyover has now become their propaganda tool. An unprecedented achievement.
Infrastructure is good. No doubt. It makes the country beautiful. When they are economically responsive they boost productivity. In the nature of an interchange it enhances movements.
According to Richard Abadie, the world is currently ‘‘looking at about three to four trillion dollars of investment that is needed in developing markets on an annual basis in terms of infrastructure investment.
The OECD also estimated back in 2006 that the world needed to invest 2.5% of global GDP on an annual basis for nearly 25 years to meet this infrastructure backlog.
So like he says the numbers are incredibly challenging.
But how are governments supposed to tackle this challenge?
Before I proceed let me first bring you a bold thinking from Dubai since we have become it shadows. Just to help with an insight into the mindset of its leadership.
From A Dubai perspective “nation building is the result of intense efforts at building a community and homeland; a phenomenal task that not taken lightly, but shouldered by a nation’s government, its public and private sectors, and its people. They must be willing to respond to the rapidly changing conditions that ricochet around the world at breakneck speed,
They say in order to achieve this, “a modern infrastructure is not enough; we must have a vision and flexibility to embrace change, to continuously adapt, and to improve our personal performance and our commitment to service in order to enable us to expand our markets and promote our competitiveness on the international stage.
They conclude that “doing so requires time, dedication and hard work.”
And so where from the NDCs obsession and the rush?
Richard Abadie says “when governments are strategically focused on delivering infrastructure, they need to do it over the long term and that could be 20 to 30 years that they’re planning out and they need to have it in a context that they can communicate a plan to the market that will bidding for in financing these projects.
According to him that consistency must be on a cross party, cross-government basis to make investment in infrastructure account and deliver the outcomes that you’re hoping for and talks of appropriate legal and regulatory framework.
Like President Mahama’s contextual Ghanaians as we are, “what’s very quickly forgotten is that it is a long term asset and it does require some form of payment to pay back the money that is used to build the infrastructure in the first place. And so ultimately the taxpayer will be the one pay for the infrastructure.
It is like the NDC does not understand this risk or like I earlier stated merely being partisan.
At this point it is important for the NDC to know that infrastructure must be affordable to the taxpayer and there is no better ways than to cut the size of the infrastructure or deliver them within a longer term period.
Today infrastructures have become the NDCs pet projects or politically motivated projects and neither of those are recipes for successful infrastructure programs or projects going forward to quote Mr Abadie.
And its biggest propaganda tool the circle interchange is being over-specified and over-designed and over-discussed.
It’s likely I may have to continue but for now I must graduate.
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