24-hour Economy: President of GUTA endorses Mahama’s proposed policy

President of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA), Dr. Joseph Obeng, has welcomed the proposal for a 24-hour Economy in Ghana. He said considering the fact that businesses thrive on time and opportunities his group would jump onto any opportunity that would enable them operate their activities at any time of the day.

He said this on Tuesday during the maiden public forum organized by Upsilon Pi Delta Institute Africa (UPDI) on the theme, “Unlocking Economic Property through a 24-Hour Economy” held at the main auditorium of the UniMAC-GIJ campus in Accra.

“The travelling that we do, sometimes we are air bound for 18hrs and tend to lose the difference between day and night and we get down and go straight to business till anytime,” he explained.

On factors that can make the policy stand, Dr. Obeng said there should be some attention on security.

Dr Obeng explained that the 24-hour Economy has been there though unofficially. For example, he grew up in Kumasi seeing buses bring people and goods from very far and near arriving as early as 3am, and this according to him could mean that these people traveled throughout the night in order for the business to continue.

He however lamented the fact that such is not the case anymore due to rampant robberies on our roads which does not allow traders and drivers to travel at night for the fear of the possibility of attack.

He suggested to any future government that intends to implement a 24-hour economy policy to first take keen interest in the security sector of the country.

“If buses could travel with CCTVs, then it would wade off robbers on the road and the night business would blossom again,” he said.

Also on the panel at the forum was the Secretary of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Ismeraque Ismail, who applauded the proposed 24-hour economy policy as a move that would bring down the high rate of youth unemployment in the country. He said the policy would increase flexibility of employment to the advantage of the youth.

“Just like our counterparts in the diaspora who work and school at the same time, because they have a working 24-hour economy, we back home can also go to class, close and go to a company, work to sustain ourselves without the help of anyone,” he argued.

He said the 24-hour Economy would create more avenues for learning and research resources.

He said this in the light that most university libraries close at 6pm because they do not have enough workforce to run the night shift, and this in the long run goes against the Ghanaian student.

He advised the Ghanaian society not to see this in with political lenses; rather, they should embrace it just as they did to the free SHS Education policy in 2016.

Executive Director of CIMAG, Andrews Derrick Fiatui, speaking on behalf of the maritime sector in Ghana praised the policy. He explained that “when Kenya made this same decision some years back, it was not an easy one, but today they are doing better than at least Ghana, though not like the USA, they have a running Economy.

The 24-hour economy is an economic strategy that involves putting measures in place to ensure that businesses and corporate bodies across various sectors in an economy operate both at night and in the day. It seeks to be a deliberate policy to encourage and support certain businesses and companies to operate around the clock, preferably in a three-shift system of a 8-hours each, by creating an enabling environment that promotes productivity, competitiveness and well-paying jobs.

By Gertrude Edem Amuzu || ghananewsonline.com.gh