Economist and Presidential Advisory Group on the Economy (PAGE) member Kwame Pianim has praised Vice-President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang for
Economist and Presidential Advisory Group on the Economy (PAGE) member Kwame Pianim has praised Vice-President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang for putting the lives of ordinary Ghanaians at the centre of economic discussions.
Speaking at the launch of the Ghana National Association of Teachers’ (GNAT) “Thank You Teacher” National Raffle, Pianim said the Vice-President regularly asks how government policies affect vulnerable people.
“Whenever we are talking macroeconomics at the Presidential Advisory Group on the Economy, she always says, how does it help the single mother in the village, the woman entrepreneur?” he said.
Pianim said Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang also considers the challenges faced by young women working in difficult conditions, as well as young people seeking improved opportunities.
“How does it help the young girls working in the heat, selling things? How does it help the young person in Ghana?” he recalled her asking.
According to the renowned economist, those questions highlight the need for economic policy to deliver tangible improvements in people’s lives rather than focus only on broad national indicators.
“She makes you realise that macroeconomics, everything boils down to the state, the status, the well-being of the average Ghanaian,” he stated.
Pianim also called on Ghana’s political leaders to develop greater empathy for poor people, arguing that even a modest increase in concern from the political elite could have a major effect on the country’s future.
“And if the political elite of Ghana were to have 10% empathy for the poor, this country in 10 years’ time will be better than Singapore,” he said.
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