The Executive Representative of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), Yaa Obenewaa Okudzeto, has called on the public sector to strengthen its role in providing basic infrastructure to support private sector development, warning that persistent gaps could undermine investment in emerging economic areas.
She posits that government must ensure that essential infrastructure, particularly roads, is delivered in a timely manner to match growing private sector activity in key locations.
Speaking at the Citi Business Festival Roundtable Discussion held on Monday, June 15, on the theme “Building Competitive Cities: Infrastructure, Innovation and Investment for Sustainable Economic Growth,” she cited Berekuso as an example of an area where private investment has steadily expanded, but public infrastructure like has lagged significantly behind.
She noted that while private investors continue to develop educational facilities in the area, basic road infrastructure remains inadequate.
“One of the things that also struck me, for instance, a place like Berekuso, I have been working up that road for about 20 years now, and it’s becoming more or less an education enclave, where there are private sector people developing all kinds of educational facilities there. And for 20 years, we’ve been fighting for something as simple as a road infrastructure.”
Okudzeto warned that failure by the public sector to deliver essential infrastructure in such areas could discourage private investment and slow down economic development.
“If we do not put our monies where it matters, then private sector would also pull back. So there’s a role where we need the public sector to really sit up and realise that if we’re trying to develop as a nation, we need to meet the private sector halfway,” she cautioned.
The 2026 Citi Business Festival is powered by Citi 97.3 FM and Channel One TV in partnership with Absa Bank and proudly sponsored by MTN Ghana, Zonda Tec Ghana Limited and Petra Trust.
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