{"id":11049,"date":"2014-04-04T15:06:16","date_gmt":"2014-04-04T15:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=11049"},"modified":"2014-04-04T15:12:55","modified_gmt":"2014-04-04T15:12:55","slug":"made-in-ghana-products-i-use-daily-mahama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/04\/made-in-ghana-products-i-use-daily-mahama\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Made in Ghana\u2019 products I use daily – Mahama"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mahama<\/a>The President, John Mahama has released a list of made in Ghana items he uses in his home on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

A post on his Facebook page on Friday said: \u201cI have taken an inventory of my home to find out how many Made-in-Ghana products I use on a daily basis. Here is my list.\u201d<\/p>\n

He urged Ghanaians to do likewise after he shared his list on his blog.<\/p>\n

He also attached a link through which people can share their own list.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Below is the full post on his blog<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With every piece of clothing we wear, with every item of food we buy to\u00a0prepare\u00a0our meals, with every single thing we use, we should ask ourselves, \u201cWas it made in Ghana?\u201d<\/p>\n

And even more important, \u201cCould\u00a0it have\u00a0been made in Ghana?\u201d<\/p>\n

During my youth it seemed as though people placed a high premium on imported goods because they\u00a0were rare, not your everyday possessions. They were\u00a0often gifts or things that had been carried back from trips abroad.<\/p>\n

My father owned\u00a0a Teasmade automatic tea maker, which he\u2019d acquired during a trip to England. It had a clock, with a timer and an alarm, which my father\u00a0programmed every single\u00a0night without fail so that by the time he was up and alert, his first cup of tea\u00a0would be ready and waiting for him.\u00a0He cherished\u00a0that machine.<\/p>\n

But it\u00a0was one\u00a0of only\u00a0a small\u00a0number of things in our home that was not made in Ghana.<\/p>\n

My father, like\u00a0most Ghanaians,\u00a0mostly purchased products that were manufactured in Ghana. This\u00a0was during the years of Operation Feed Yourself.<\/p>\n

International trade regulations\u00a0were not as, liberal and the world had not yet become a global village.\u00a0Ghana\u2019s\u00a0self-sufficiency extended beyond the agricultural sector; during those days we were manufacturing a fair amount of quality products.<\/p>\n

That was a half-century\u00a0ago. Now\u00a0it seems that in most Ghanaian households imported items are the norm and made in Ghana\u00a0merchandise is, rather,\u00a0the anomaly. It seems also that we are not manufacturing nearly as many products as we used to.<\/p>\n

In fact, many of the items that\u00a0we spend millions of cedis to import could easily be produced right here in Ghana.<\/p>\n

There is nothing wrong with purchasing an imported product. I remember how much\u00a0my father loved \u00a0his automatic tea maker, but I am certain that if the same product of comparable quality were being manufactured in Ghana he would have purchased that instead, and the Teasmade machine would have remained in England.<\/p>\n

In order for our nation\u00a0to fully develop, we must expand our local industries. When we spend our money on Made-in-Ghana goods, that money remains in Ghana and is redistributed throughout our communities.<\/p>\n

When we support our local industries, we support the creation of additional jobs; we support and encourage the creativity\u00a0and innovation of our fellow citizens; we teach\u00a0our children how to be more than consumers, we teach them how to be entrepreneurs and visionaries, and how to rel on themselves to fill the basic needs of our nation.<\/p>\n

On 6th March, during my Independence Day address, I asked my fellow Ghanaians to start being more conscious about the products we are using.<\/p>\n

I followed the same instruction. The following morning, I began taking an inventory of my home to find out just how many Made-in-Ghana products\u00a0I used on a\u00a0daily basis.<\/p>\n

I am sharing my list with you in the hopes that\u00a0you will take your own inventory and share it with others. Maybe in so doing, we can inspire the young entrepreneurs among us to pursue their business ideas and we can inspire one another to invest in our communities by purchasing our locally made products.<\/p>\n

Made in\u00a0Ghana<\/strong>
\nMattress
\nPillows
\nToilet tissue
\nLotion and some\u00a0other toiletries
\nRice and other grains
\nSalt
\nSome spices
\nSome shirts
\nSome shoes
\nSome foodstuff<\/p>\n

Imported, but could be made \/ produced in Ghana<\/strong>
\nBed sheets
\nToothbrush
\nToothpaste
\nDeodorant and some other toiletries
\nCotton balls and Q-tips
\nTowels
\nHangers
\nNeckties
\nSome shirts
\nTrousers
\nSome shoes
\nCooking\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0oils
\nRice and other grains
\nSugar
\nSome spices
\nSome foodstuff
\nUtensils
\nPots and pans
\nPlates Food storage\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0containers
\nFurniture
\nCurtains
\nLamps<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For information\u00a0on how to share\u00a0your Made-in-Ghana inventory, please visit http:\/\/bit.ly\/1gL1J5P<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
\nFollow @osamidan<\/a>
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