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Mr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the Minister of Information, has entreated Ghanaians to stop self-aggrandisement and fashion out efficient development strategies to promote economic growth.

He said Ghanaians like touting themselves as the Blackstars of Africa and gateway to Africa, and yet they were lagging behind in terms of economic development.

“It’s a shame that Ghanaian businesses are rewarded with trips to Rwanda, in Ghana today, people organise competitions and businesses are flown to Rwanda to see what that country had been able to achieve….a country that was virtually raised down by war about 20 years ago,” he noted.

Mr Abdul-Hamid expressed the concern at the closing ceremony of the 2017 Ghana Diaspora Homecoming Summit, in Accra, on the theme: “Development, Opportunity, Value: Welcome Home.”

The three-day event attracted Ghanaians abroad to access the business opportunities in the country, and also served as an avenue for mobilising and harnessing the resources and skills of Ghanaian Diasporan Community to accelerate economic growth.

The Minister noted that while Ghanaians were comforting themselves with little development achieved on the economic front, other nationals elsewhere were making tremendous progress.

“I say to you, maybe because you are not in this country, in Ghana today, if Muslims have to slaughter sheep during Eid-ul-Adha, they have to go to Burkina Faso…if we want to cook, we have to go to Cote d’lvoire to buy plantains, if we have to cook, we have to go to Burkina Faso to buy tomatoes…quite frankly, it is not a record am proud of and I believe you’re also not proud of it.

“So let not this summit be a talk-shop and not let it be as they say ‘a nine day wonder,’ because this has happened before… as true to the Ghanaian character…we’re good at initiating something…but we’re not good at getting to the conclusion,” he said.

Mr Abdul-Hamid observed that leadership was essential and critical for the nation’s development and assured the Ghanaians in the Diaspora that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was deeply committed to the Ghanaian project.

“Last night, we started a ministerial treat in Aburi and we closed at 2 am, and at 9 am this morning when we got back to the hall…this 73-year-old man was seated waiting for us… and he said before I left that, we should prepare ourselves for another marathon meeting tonight… All because of his zeal and commitment that, this country has to act with a sense of urgency,” he stated.

The Minister entreated Ghanaians in the Diaspora to support Government’s efforts to industrialise the nation so as to eradicate extreme poverty as well as meeting the Agenda 2030 of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations.

He urged the organisers of the Summit to commit themselves towards achieving the objectives of the programme, saying “in the next two years when we return here there must be something concrete to show”.

There were exhibitions by corporate entities and state institutions who demonstrated their support for the objectives of the Summit aimed at showcasing the opportunities and business prospects in the country.