Ghana Must Pursue Industries of the Future: technology companies to power and drive the development agenda.

Ghana Must Pursue Industries of the Future: technology companies to power and drive the development agenda.

The future prosperity of Ghana and Africa will not rely on "gold, cocoa and timber". These were the industries of the 19th century. To progress we need industries of the future, industries of plenty ideas and little materials. "gold, cocoa and timber" these were industries of plenty materials and little ideas.

Using viruses in the ocean to create batteries of the future, Biomimicry as industrial scale processing (like making ceramic materials using the biochemical processes similar to those used to make seashells, etc). Look for a book call "Biorefinery". Africa's future is that of Biotechnology - for medicines, functional foods, advanced materials (like fungus made quantum dots for advanced optics), bio-inspired electronics and robotics, new generation computer applications development, etc. "gold, cocoa and timber" I say again is 19th century.

To succeed with the quest for industries of the future, there is the need to create new hub to house the technology culture that is needed for each specific idea to thrive. The example of "Silicon valley" is a powerful idea to provide the organizing principles.

Nkrumah's False Start

At independence Ghana and Nkrumah had a false start. The industrial plants sold to the country were overpriced and problematic. But speed and ambition meant that the critical assessments could not be done. So once the cocoa cash run dry due to world price collapsed the industrialization efforts halted.

Lessons : make the machines that make the track and the wheels on which your ambitions run on your own.

The 4th Republic has been running a 19th Century Economic model

We need a technology-led strategy for national development. The old economic model of export of unprocessed commodities, agric- and agro-processing based strategy will not take us far. How much cocoa, cashew and pineapples can we export to double our GDP in 10 years? With 5-10 high tech and biotech enterprises, we can more than double our GDP in a decade and that will fix all development deficits in a decade. This is what the Asian tigers did in semiconductor business and automation. Taiwan alone has GDP ten times bigger than that of Ghana, and it's land mass (36,193 km²) is smaller than the former Brong Ahafo region (39,557 km²) and population (24 million) of is less than that of Ghana (area 238,535 km² and 30 million people). 28 years of the 4th republic has run on a 19th century economic model, 2021 and beyond let's think differently and turn to some 21st century ideas.

Technology companies to power and drive the

development agenda

Let's look at 10 technological companies that can take Ghana to the next level using the best of artificial intelligence and blockchain techniques to maintain competitive edge. The choice of industries is based on the model that a company garner market value beyond the 100 billion mark in 20 years of operation. If all goes well, in 20 years all our 10 companies should garner a combined market value of 1 trillion dollars that is 22 times the size of the current economy. At the current growth rates using the economic model with annual growth rate of even 10% (which is not likely), the economy will grow to 309 billion dollars in 2040 from the current 45 billion in 2020. We can easily be a 1309 billion dollar economy if we decide to target high value technological advanced industries.

01. Advanced Health Services Company:

Ghana can take advantage of the great number of medical schools in the country to establish a technologically advanced medical centre that can rival any around the world. First it can provide a cost effective alternative to Africans seeking medical attention outside the continent.

02. Pharmaceutical and Nanomedicine Company:

Medicines are expensive and Ghana has a decent set of components for a successful world leading pharma company to play with the big boys. Setting up a pharma hub around one pharma giant in Ghana will prove useful in getting a company that can garner market value beyond the 100 billion mark in 20 years of operation.

03. Electric Vehicle and Smart Logistics Company:

Mobility is a huge industry that is patronized by the masses, unlike the current situation where the nation has no stake in vehicle production. The future economy will not be stable without a local company. Vehicles operating autonomously will be much more expensive which cannot be left to foreign companies to profit from leading to significant capital flight and job losses.

04. Solar Power and Smart Grid Company:

The question of renewable energy is going to be more critical in the future when hydrocarbon resources have been exhausted. Nations will struggle to develop the capacity to build their own energy system. We are not going to be able to easily but production systems off the shelve. We need to get started now and main to play in the African market.

05. Semiconductor - Superconductor Materials Company:

Research around the work is very close to attaining superconductivity at high temperatures. It is highly that the materials that will be discovered to have superconductivity will end up being impossible to be produced at scale. We can also get involved pursue an approach that suits our high temperature and humidity environment and with a consideration for the limits of mineral deposits in the world. And get ahead of the curve and even explore materials such as graphene and modified versions of it. This how we are going to maintain a significant share of the 21st century technological value.

06. Electronics Component and Telecom Company:

All developed nations have achieved economic success on the back of electronic companies. These companies also create the engineering ecosystems that drive many other industries. By fusing an electronics company with a telecommunication will be strategic for the 21st century challenge of mastering communications and information technology from hardware and software. We can take a radical step and hold off 5G installation until we have built this type of company to be able to implement 5G in Ghana. Apart from securing the economic dividend, we also take control of the security of our network with local engineers who truly understand the systems, because they built from ground up.

07. Precision and Personalized Medicine Company:

This type of medicine is going to displace the current model of healthcare. The requirements for technology and sophistication will be enormous. Starting to create the institutions required now will make Ghana ready for the prime time. Once the world gets into this era of medicine, getting started will be extremely expensive and will lead to the importation of technological solution that will constrain economic growth even further. Unlike the current model of medicine which relies on supplies can be ship from long distances, personalized and precision medicine has to be local due genetics and the nature of cells and tissues that will be engineered to provide treatments of the future. Getting started now will allow Ghana to develop robust technologies for nations that will require them and save the nation from paying a huge cost.

08. Rocket and AeroSpace Technologies Company:

Space technologies have a way to catalyze advancements in other fields through inspiration and training. We will need a space programme to ensure other technological enterprises succeed.

09. Manufacturing and Laser Equipment Company:

In the era of AI, robotics, nanotechnologies, manufacturing equipment will be the new personal appliances. The specializations will grow more complex as they need to be designed to tackle highly specialized. No nation can develop any viable technological company without operating in this space.

10. Biotechnology and Bioengineering Company:

The era of harnessing biological systems to produce functional materials and new medicines makes it an imperative to have a big player in the field. Biotechnology companies are always profitable and make several high end components and materials that are critical to other technological companies. In the future the place for biotech will be even more critical and building institution to operate at scale will be critical to national resilience.

-----------------------------------

Patrick Kobina Arthur (PhD),

parthur14@gmail.com

google.com, pub-9398771462498500, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0