Mrs. Afua Gyamfua Owusu Akyaw
The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) says government’s continued sourcing of funds from banks remains a disincentive to private sector growth.
Chairperson for Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Zonal branch of the AGI, Afua Gyamfua Owusu Akyaw, said at the first quarterly meeting in Kumasi the situation creates unfair and unnecessary competition countering government’s promises to support local businesses.
“Government competing with us in borrowing from the banks and as a result of that we don’t have access to the money that we want,” she revealed.
According to the AGI, the high cost of doing business caused partly by the influx of cheaper imported goods has created an uneven playing field for local manufacturing industries.
This, the association says makes the country’s efforts to build strong industries to promote made-Ghana goods a fiasco.
“It is obvious that Ghana’s competitive advantage is fast waning even with the introduction of the Common External Tariffs in the ECOWAS Sub-Region in February last year”, she said.
Mrs. Owusu Akyaw adds that in today’s business environment, competitiveness is not an option, it is critical to the survival of every business.
Meanwhile, Minister for Business and Development, Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, re-affirmed government’s determination to address concerns of businesses.
“We are not going to compete with you to do business; the government’s function is to create the environment for you to grow, so we have removed a lot of taxes,” he said.
He believes freeing funds for the private sector will empower them for growth.
