How Can Ghana Benefit from Canada ? – Asantehene Asks Envoy

The Monarch of the Asante Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has laid bare the myriad of viable opportunities that exists in Ghana for collaboration urging Canada to make its choice.

This was after the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, HE Myriam Montrat, during a courtesy visit on January 17, 2025, affirmed her country’s commitment to help the economy of Ghana out of distress.

“We want to do all we can to help support the economy and bring some of our technical expertise that can be shared and the knowledge for the people and the Ashanti Region to prosper,” she said in her remarks.

In reaction, the King outlined available sectors of the economy in dire need of assistance and collaboration for mutual development.

Technical Collaboration
First, the King highlighted collaboration in terms of technical education, an area he observes Canada is well-versed.

The King lamented about the country’s growing unemployment rate year after year as universities continue to churn out graduates.

“We have a lot of students unemployed after school, where do we put them because {the public and private sectors are full}. It’s either we collaborate to identify what courses should be taught in these schools so that after education they can self-employ and set employment systems. Those are areas I seek collaboration.”

He also suggested a collaboration between the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and universities in Canada for long-distance studies.

Environment
The Occupant of the Golden Stool also called for technical assistance in reclaiming lost vegetative covers and purifying polluted water bodies as a result of illegal mining activities in Ghana.

“The era of galamsey has destroyed most of our water bodies. We still need technical support to deal with it. We need to be able to reclaim all the lands and water for people to consume.”

Agriculture
Another viable sector Otumfuo enlightened the envoy on was agriculture.

He stated that the lack of resources and the needed technology for agriculture coupled with difficulties in securing capital for investment makes the sector unattractive to the youth.

“We have the available manpower but unfortunately, we don’t have the know-how in terms of the fiscal space to transform our fortune. Agriculture, for instance, we train students in Agriculture, but the attraction is not there because we don’t have the resources…The banks don’t have the capacity to do it. They are into buying treasury bills and it doesn’t advance development.”

The Crucial Question
The King then asked, “What can we do to advance development and what can Canada offer Ghana in relation to that so that we can advance development using productive areas.”

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini