The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says his government is keen on building the business-friendly economy on the continent and has assured potential private sector investors of the safety of their investments.
Speaking at the 6th Africa CEO Forum, held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on Monday, President Akufo-Addo stressed that “Ghana is endowed with great potential, where security and the rule of law are upheld, where investments are secure.”
President Akufo-Addo noted that over the last 14 months, his administration has focused its energy on building a resilient economy.
Some of these measures, the President noted are also bent at helping the country move from its dependency on foreign assistance – Ghana beyond aid – a mantra he has preached since he took office last year.
“We have put in place, in Ghana, since I took office, a monetary policy that has stabilised our currency, and has reduced significantly inflation and the cost of borrowing,” the president told the forum.
In order to create a Ghana that is “able to mobilize our own material and human resources to develop a strong economy, capable of generating prosperity for the mass of our people, and construct a Ghana no longer dependent on handouts and charity,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo, President Alassane Ouattara and President Emerson Mnangagwa with Bechir Ben Yamed, CEO of Jeune Afrique
He also indicated that “we have implemented a raft of tax cuts which has brought relief to businesses, and, at the same time, reduced substantially our fiscal deficit. These interventions are lowering the cost of doing business, and are shifting the focus of our economy from an emphasis on taxation to an expansion of production.”
President Akufo-Addo stated that the Ghanaian economy, with a growth rate of 3.6%, in 2016, the lowest in two decades, grew by 7.9% in 2017, and is expected to grow, in 2018, by 8.3%, which, according to the IMF, would make it the fastest growing economy in the world this year.
President Akufo-Addo also said a rapid growth of the private sector is an essential ingredient in realizing his government’s vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid.
“There are many projects in roads, railways, water transport, industry, manufacturing, agriculture, petroleum and gas, renewable energy, the exploitation of our mineral wealth of bauxite, iron ore and gold, and ICT, amongst others, which, if properly structured, can attract private sector financing,” he said.
“Key to attracting private sector investment is not only creating a conducive, business-friendly and peaceful environment but, also, fashioning a state machinery fit to be able to provide strong, regulatory support for private enterprise to thrive. That, for us, is the heart of the private-public-partnership, that can fast-track our development,” he continued.
President Akufo-Addo, President Alassane Ouattara and President Emerson Mnangagwa exchanging pleasantries with a section of participants
He further indicated that the aim of his government is to create a state machinery that can manage efficiently its fiscal and monetary responsibilities, that can reform its tax administration to ensure that all private sector operators discharge their full tax obligations to enhance domestic resource mobilization, and that can promote the rule of law.
“It is important that all of us make systematic efforts to turn our backs on the sad history of massive flights of capital out of our country and continent from unconscionable inter-company pricing and other practices, and lay the conditions for fairness in the administration of our economies,” he added.
He told the Forum, comprising African CEOs, bankers and investors that Ghana wants to participate in the global marketplace, “not on the basis of the exports of raw materials, but on the basis of things we make. We want to bring greater dignity to the lives of millions of people in Ghana. We want to build a Ghana Beyond Aid.”
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