‘Create 10 Ghanaian billionaires’: Amoabeng urges President Mahama to back local tycoons

Prince Kofi Amoabeng, founder of the defunct UT Bank, has called on President John Dramani Mahama to champion a bold and deliberate national strategy to create at least 10 Ghanaian billionaires as part of efforts to accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty.

Speaking at the fourth First National Bank (FNB) Head of State Invitational Golf Tournament at the Achimota Golf Club in Accra last Friday, Amoabeng urged the President to support young, honest and tax-compliant entrepreneurs with targeted government backing to build globally competitive Ghanaian-owned businesses.

Addressing President Mahama, the former UT Bank boss said the country needed to break away from the “pull-him-down syndromes” that hinder progress and instead empower capable citizens to develop strong economic pillars that would project Ghana internationally.

“My suggestion is that, apart from helping the poor people with the employment arrangement, we should try to create about at least 10 millionaires or billionaires in Ghana. Deliberately,” he said. “You can choose people, young people, who are honest and pay their taxes and have business to stand for, and intentionally, the government backs them up with grants, with contracts and things like that. To grow them so that you go across internationally and everything and project the name of this country.”

Amoabeng emphasised that empowering Ghanaian business leaders was critical to supporting the President’s poverty reduction agenda and building a strong national economy. He said the government must identify “genuine business people” from across the political divide and support them to succeed.

“So, Mr President, identify, please, not only NDC, but genuine business people and push them, encourage them, so that they will become successful for our dear country,” he said.

The former banker also praised the President for what he described as a renewed national sense of hope, citing improvements in inflation, interest rates and the performance of the cedi.

He commended the administration for its 24-hour economy initiative, which he described in simple terms: “When you accept you are poor, when rich people are sleeping late, you don’t sleep. That’s basically my understanding of it.”

Amoabeng also expressed strong support for the proposed Accra–Kumasi commercial project, arguing that businesses would be willing to pay more for faster and efficient travel.

“One other thing which really freaks me is the proposed Accra commercial project,” he said. “Every right-thinking person who spends about seven hours to go to Kumasi, they only want to pay even 1,000 cedis so they can get there in time and conduct their business and come back.”

He further called for a comprehensive reform of the judiciary, saying delays in the legal system hinder business confidence and economic activity. Recounting his own frustrations, he said: “I personally had a debt recovery which took eight years. And you ask yourself, somebody has come for your money, give you a collateral, it’s not paying, why should it take eight years?”

Amoabeng added that without addressing concerns in the judiciary, the President’s broader economic transformation agenda would not achieve its full impact.

President Mahama graced the tournament alongside the Minister for Sports, dignitaries, golfers and officials of the Achimota Golf Club. The event celebrated camaraderie, sportsmanship and the importance of leadership in national development.