Business News of Monday, 7 August 2017
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2017-08-07
Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says 70 percent of government contracts will be given to local businesses as a way of encouraging Ghanaian ownership of the economy.
He explained, the initiative will bolster the confidence of Ghanaian businesses to contribute towards the building of a sustainable economy.
Speaking at the Ghana Economic Forum in Accra Monday, the economist said businesses will be strong if the micro-economy is stable.
He said the many initiatives government has rolled out within the last seven months are aimed at encouraging investment in the economy.
“We are moving very quickly to formalize our economy along three pillars – build a national ID system, bringing a digital address system and have interoperability of payment,” he said.
The Vice President’s comment comes two weeks after Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea said the government will give priority to foreign engineers in the awarding of projects.
The Minister said local engineers are unable to execute projects to the required standards.
“For the engineer, who is outside, it is a legacy, so that your name is permanently written…but for the Ghanaian engineer, it’s not like that. He is trying to look at situations to make good money and leaving us a shoddy job,” Mr Atta Akyea told officials of the Engineering Council in July 2017.
But the Vice President said the government will make sure that local businesses will receive about 70 percent of taxpayers’ funded contracts.
Dr Bawumai said the government is also going ahead with plans to formalize the economy in order to make it business-friendly.
He said the building of a national ID system, digitization of address system and interoperability of payments in the country will ensure financial inclusion.
These three pillars, Dr Bawumia explained, will allow the government to organize data and interlink them across the various state institutions such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Passport Office, Police Administration, court and the banks.
