Why Ghana Remains A Good Place For Business
Ghana is still a good place for business – yes, you heard that right. According to a 2019 Doing Business Report put together by the World Bank Group, Ghana has made progress in the ease of doing business as it now ranks 114th out of 190 countries — an improvement given that it is up six places from its position in the 2018 Doing Business Report.
The narrative from the World Bank speaks of the encouragement stemming from the seen progress that is being made to better Ghana’s business environment and promote investments by both domestic and foreign firms. This is essential in catalyzing growth, creating jobs and reducing poverty in the nation and Africa at large.
It is reported that the government of Ghana is diligently pursuing other measures that will go a long way in digitalizing and formalizing the economy to accelerate growth and improve the mobilization of revenue. The report informs that there is an ongoing implementation of the digital address system with area codes, and the introduction of the National Identification Card – the Ghana Card, as well as the launch of mobile interoperability within the banking and financial sectors.
Ghana also has a paperless port clearing operations at the ports and the e-registration of businesses at the Registrar-General’s Department.
November 2018 marks the celebration of the Global Entrepreneurship Month as Ghana joins more than 170 countries in the world in commemorating this event. On the sidelines of this development, the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, said that entrepreneurship is a vital component of economic growth and continuous development, as it is considered globally and also embraced as one of the most important drivers of growth.
According to him, the government of Ghana is committed to creating a conducive, business-friendly environment that will result in a private sector that thrives, alongside the creation of wealth and jobs for the teeming Ghanaian youth population. He also informed for the past 22 months; the administration has been working to improve the business environment by means of reducing the general doing-business cost and enhancing the macroeconomic space to reduce the cost of borrowing significantly.
“Fostering entrepreneurship and innovation in a bid to advance the creation of jobs and economic prosperity is at the heart of my regime’s undertaken work,” he said. “I am strong-willed so that we can change the economic conditions for young people who constitute Ghana’s future citizens, so that they can see the country as a place of opportunity, rather than where they flee at the peril of life,” he added.
The government of Ghana is believed to be mobilizing efforts towards creating a conducive entrepreneurial climate in order to help young people come up with creative ideas that can result in the establishment of profitable businesses. As entrepreneurship makes young people creative, it puts them to work, gives them dignity and ultimately makes Ghana and Africa strong and great.
The Ghanaian Ministry of Business Development, through its agency for implementation, the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, in collaboration with its private sector partners, currently pursues a number of initiatives that will potentially enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Ghana – building capacity in young entrepreneurs and providing business advisory services and financial assistance to women in enterprise.
Featured Image Courtesy: Ghana Talks Business
