Covid sparked innovation within private sector — Dr Agyepong

The Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, has stated that the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic allowed the private sector to innovatively use local resources to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) including nose masks, hand sanitisers to help contain the spread of the virus.

He explained that this became feasible because of the “boldness” of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to initiate a public-private partnership to embark on a massive disinfection exercise across the country.

Dr. Siaw Agyepong made the observation while delivering an address at the opening of the 73rd Annual New Year School and Conference (ANYSC) on Tuesday, January 25, 2022.

This year’s New Year’s School, which is being held at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana, is on the theme; “Covid-19 and Socioeconomic Dynamics in Ghana.”

Meanwhile, Dr Siaw Agyepong has been appointed as a member of the University of Ghana’s (ANYSC) Advisory Team.

Despite the devastating effects of Covid, he said, local resources came in handy in the production of elements which are assisting in the fight against Covid in the country.

“With the onset of the pandemic and in the wake of the closure of air, land and sea borders, Ghana came out with what he termed homegrown measures to contain the spread of the pandemic,” Dr Siaw Agyepong noted.

He recounted that a total of 45 waste treatment plants across the country comprising 16 solid waste treatment plants, 16 liquid waste treatment plants and 13 medical wastes plants were currently undergoing construction.

Dr Siaw Agyepong thus entreated Ghanaians to actively get involved in reviving the economy back on track.

According to him, the national disinfection exercise saw the disinfection of about 2,500 markets across the country within two days, adding that it has also offered employment to some 2,500 people.

“…Over 77,000 schools, churches and mosques benefited from the nationwide disinfection operation which has helped in curbing the spread of the virus,” he further said.

The Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Mrs. Mary Chinery-Hesse, who was the Chairperson for the opening, was upbeat that the government’s “Obaatanpa” programme will seek to boost socio-economic development in the midst of the pandemic.

She explained that New Year School event provided a unique platform for birthing ideas for national development, stressing that it (the New Year School) has continued to birth themes which have set the tone for worth consideration, particularly the times that the country has found itself.

She gave the assurance that the annual event would go beyond normal rhetoric and continue to bridge the gap between academia and industry.