Vice President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has advocated for intentional investment in young people, robust institutions, and ethical leadership to create resilient markets capable of supporting long-term economic growth.
On Friday, May 22, the Vice President spoke at the 2026 ACI World Congress in Accra, saying that providing young people with the necessary skills is important to the future of emerging and frontier economies.
“If we invest in young people’s skills, they will participate in these markets and even go beyond to contribute to designing them,” she said.
She emphasised, however, that economic transformation will necessitate more than just skill development, stressing that governments and institutions intentionally generate trust through fair, consistent, and credible governance systems.
“But we must be deliberate and build trust through fair and consistent standards and institutions that remain relevant under pressure,” she added.
Inflation, rising interest rates, pressure from sovereign debt, geopolitical tensions, climate threats, and rapid technology innovation are all major sources of uncertainty for the global economy, according to Prof. Opoku-Agyemang.
“The world is still adjusting to the aftershocks of inflation, higher interest rates, sovereign debt pressures, geopolitical tensions, climate risk, supply chain shifts, rapid technological disruption, the list is endless,” she stated.
She claims that these occurrences continue to put tremendous strain on frontier and emerging markets, impacting important economic indicators and eroding investor confidence.
“For emerging and frontier markets, these changes affect exchange rates, fiscal planning, trade finance, portfolio flows, debt sustainability and the cost of capital,” she explained.
“They shape business investment capacities, government planning and the ability of households to live with dignity,” she said.
The Vice President pointed out that these worldwide shocks have an immediate impact on people, governments, and enterprises in addition to financial systems.
She also emphasised that robust and reliable markets supported by capable organisations and moral leadership are necessary for resilient economies to flourish.
“We cannot build strong economies on weak markets. Resilient markets cannot be built without trust and trust cannot exist without competence, ethics and robust institutions,” she said.
In his remarks, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang emphasised the increasing significance of market resilience, institutional legitimacy, and young empowerment as nations attempt to navigate an increasingly unstable global economic environment.
Source: newsthemegh.com