 Your Excellency, you know everyone has been saying that you're such a nice guy, but I thought it's just online Yesterday, I know yesterday. I've met you and Harry going somewhere. You're like, you know what? I'm busy Hey, but I'll see you later. We actually came back But but it's good to meet you. Yes, I've heard so much about you and Have you ever seen my videos before? Yeah, my children watch you and And then No, they told me about you. I think you need to start watching me and I know that you're gonna fall in love with me I will I will Yeah, Excellency, you know, these questions are coming from me I'm gonna do more like the questions that a layman Ghana has been asking and you know, general African questions and stuff like that So my first question, I mean you were once the president of Ghana Yeah, and the people of Ghana decided to change you Yeah, I know and believe that you want to be president again Well, maybe you never know what happens. What are you gonna do differently this time? Yeah, I keep as being getting asked this question We did a lot in my time and At the time our focus was in an uninfrastructure because we came a meta situation where our infrastructure was degraded And so of course all the investments that we raised we put into Improving the roads building interchanges Expanding the airports new terminal buildings. We built a new hub all we built new hospitals new schools and all that I know that if we do come into office again in 2025 the fiscal space is going to be very narrow because of the Economic crisis in which we are and so I do think that the next phase we should be looking at We're not going to have enough fiscal space for large infrastructural projects But I think that what Ghanians are looking for is a change in our governance system a review of our constitution a Strong fight against corruption. I mean those are the kinds of things young people are looking for but at the same time Raising investments and putting them in areas where young people can get opportunity To develop their full potential and so I think that is the agenda for annex and DC administration It might be me. It might be one of We're gonna have primaries and people are going to contest and so you cannot presume that I'm going to imagine just the presidential candidate You're talking about corruption will it be possible for you? I mean discipline people who are corrupt in your government because that's one thing that we've been Fighting about I know and believe that You heard about the problems of Africa when you were growing up. I mean it's been there all the time Everyone keep on saying the leaders the leaders the leaders. You don't think that narrative needs to change it must change today We held a side event. I'm the chairman of the tenor forum which is the leading peace and security thing tank in Africa and We're talking with our European counterparts and we're talking about investment in Africa having more control of our natural resources and Issues like that bilateral trade the African continental free trade area But I was honest to say that other issues that are within our own control to Review our things like corruption good governance more democracy free speech Protection of human rights those ones you don't need any foreigners to come and do for you need to do those yourselves So those are issues that we must resolve ourselves internally and then based on that We can go and sit on the table and tell others that this is what we want to see But definitely, you know the fundamental problem of our economy. Yes, we actually export more of our raw materials and Little value addition. Yes, you don't think this much change just to help the local entrepreneur Even before you talk about value addition, there's the problem of our huge import food import bill When I was in office we're importing about $500 million worth of rice a year and we're producing some locally today. We're importing 950 million almost one billion Dollars worth of rice and that is only rice you talk about tomato products You talk about vegetable cooking oil you talk about poultry products. You talk about fish and all that There's the need to diversify our economy You cannot do it overnight, but the process must start that we're able to cut down our food import They were able to cut down food import bill will be saving gonna three billion dollars a year that alone It's enough to reinvest in the country and be able to add the kind of value that you are going to talk about But how do you intend to achieve that? I think that farmers need support. We've approached it the wrong way I realized some of the things that we ourselves did mistakes with we imported tractors and Agricultural equipment and we give it to farmers the farmer doesn't need a tractor doesn't need the Agricultural equipment. He needs the services of a tractor So somebody who knows how to maintain that tractor must have a service center Where he provides the services to the farmer But we give the tractors to the farmers in a year or two the tractor has broken down because he doesn't know that every Six months you must change the engine or you must change the filters. You must grease the tractor. He doesn't know that, you know So we'll approach it differently. I think that this government had an opportunity with a planting for food and jobs I think that that money part of it should have gone into setting up agricultural service centers where Companies that know how to handle agricultural machinery keep the machines But they offer the services to the farmer at a fee if the farmer is not able to pay You can give him a credit line when he has his crops and he sells his crops He can come and pay what he owes it to even help with agricultural credit One of the things that I do on the continent is to travel different African countries Promotes in young entrepreneurs and one of the problems that everyone talks about is funding especially in the agric sector I mean the youth of Africa today cannot find this kind of project So I don't know if the government will come in in terms of if your government comes to power You come in in terms of providing funds for young farmers. I think that would be incredible You see the thing about agriculture and farming is You need the big entrepreneurs to go in and then based on that if they put in the processing and the new class farm Then you have outgrower farmers and you can there you can bring the youth in and scale them up as they make money, you know I mean it's done in Kenya. It's done. You get you have the big tea plantations But then you have the small tea farmers too and the small tea farmers when they grow they sell to the big Tea plantation who process the tea for export and so everybody makes money You cannot just take a small Young entrepreneur and build him into a successful farmer overnight He needs to be mentored by a bigger entrepreneur and don't tell me we don't have entrepreneurs in Ghana We have them. They're buying Ferrari cars. They're buying Bugatti's instead of looking into our culture I mean one of our MP said if you want to be a poor man go into agriculture He doesn't know he should go to East Africa and see some of the richest people are farmers And I'm sure that if our people just stopped trading all as soon as somebody gets money all he wants to do is trade Make up my soul and I know and then go to China go to Dubai go bring things come and sell And so when duties are high we're crying good ties on strike and so on and so forth but I mean if we're able to Grow what we eat eat what we grow. I think that we would be successful as a nation It's a process that must start and I had hoped that this government to be able to start it But unfortunately the economy crisis in which they have landed the country. I Wonder how we're going to be able to raise a captor But these are the kinds of projects that African woman bank is interested in I Mean, I think my audience will be a bit sad if I don't talk about Africa because we're focusing on Ghana too much I know your father used to be in the included government. So are you a fan of common crew man? Yes, I grew up as a an incrementalist. I said I'm an incrementalist. I my actual First political orientation was CPP. Yeah, and so I joined NDC when it was found Uncrumah talked about borderless Africa. I've been a victim I just had a brawler the to go to go Ghana or water just because I refused to pay bride Yeah, I mean as a young African trying to travel within Africa. It's extremely difficult to travel in Africa When you're once a president You don't think Africa need a border. We should be a borderless continent just like Europe I had a visa for Germany. I was in Austria. I was in Netherlands. No one asked me anything But on the continent of Africa, there's no free movement of people and goods I mean, I will want to ask you because I'm so much advocate for this And when you come to power, what are you going to do to change that? Well, I was president of Ghana and so I was a member of the AU authority of African heads of states. We prepared the Protocol for visa free travel in Africa We're going to pass it in Kigali At the last minute there were objections from I remember South Africa, but there were two or three countries that objected and said we should delay it Until much later Now you know what I did I came back to Ghana And I said well if the other countries won't pass it we'll pass it in Ghana And so I allowed visa free travel To for all African passports you can apply for your visa at the airport And people started taking advantage of it today If you have an african passport you can travel to Accra and apply for the visa when you get to Accra And it hasn't changed Ghana in any way nothing extraordinary has happened So I don't see why we cannot start with visa free travel in ecuas. We have it Ecuas if you fly into Nigeria, you don't need a visa I agree with you that the borders and the Parochial things that the people do there is it's not it's not sanctioned. I mean these are Corrupt individuals who try to take advantage of a situation Otherwise in ecuas. We should be able to travel To and from each other's countries without paying anything Without I mean the passport control or whatever control is just for record purposes and to capture the statistics of How people go back and forth, but otherwise you're not supposed to pay anything and I do think that We should sanction people like that. You should have reported whoever it was I did I even made videos about it, but nothing happened And it's not just me because I met thousands of people at the border who did not have the 2000 francs just to cross to Togo, so they were stuck at the border and the same thing happens from was you on the gana sign On the on the togo sign. So I feel you have to pay 2000 So it's everywhere if the toglis are coming to Ghana, they have to pay if ganias are going to togo They have to pay it's something that exists at our borders. Is it isn't a single stop border crossing point? Because we built before I left office. I know we built a border crossing point Where both the toglis and ghanian immigration and customs were supposed to do a one-stop check It's not like that. You're talking of aflau aflau. Yeah, it's not like that aflau. You come to the toglis sign Then you cross over come to the ghanian sign Before I let you go. I know my time is up, but um, yeah Your excellency when it comes to Ghana, I know there's a national development plan but We don't implement the national development plan and that is hindering ghani's development I personally believe that gana will never develop if we don't Start working on our development plan. It's just that I saw you did projects Somewhere around the voter you go into the voter region when the next President came they abandoned it I don't think it has to be like this if there is a national development plan that if you're out of office The next president that comes to power needs to make sure he continues where you left What are you going to do different? With this law that we haven't gone we developed the national development plan We had a 40 year development plan and we spent Government resources developing it. We consulted the chiefs. We consulted everybody the MPP were involved We consulted parliamentarians everybody And then we adopted the 40 year development plan When the new government came they threw it out and then replaced it with gana beyond aid I haven't seen that plan yet. Nobody has consulted me on it. I don't know what is in it but That that is the unfortunate truth Any new government that comes through the development plan of the previous ones away and even though our constitution says that Any government that comes into office must continue the process the projects Development projects of its predecessor government. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen. I started building 200 community day schools You know almost 50 percent of them are abandoned. Some are completed. This government has refused to open them It's a pity, but that is part of what is holding us back as a country Your excellency. Thank you so much for your time. This is our way much. Yeah, and I know and believe that we're gonna have home Gala thank you so much for coming But I just want to take the opportunity to extend my condolences to the Family of our our football staff Christian Achu who died in the Turkish earthquake. Yeah, may he so rest in peace. Thank you. Thank you