An alliance to improve business integrity launched
In an era where a country’s economic growth is directly linked to the performance of the private sector, an enabling environment for doing business with integrity is very crucial to the survival of companies in that economy.
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An enabling atmosphere for doing business requires equitable policies, adequate resources, good governance, management, and accountability; and supportive social norms, such as the establishment of anti-corruption organisations to address corruption in the public and private sectors.
It is for this reason that a new global anti-corruption and business-driven multi-stakeholder initiative has been launched in Ghana.
The Alliance for Integrity is expected to promote integrity among companies, and their business partners as well as other relevant actors in the country’s economy.
The initiative, which is presently active in Brazil, India and Ghana, has been commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the German technical cooperation (GIZ).
How it will work
The alliance plans to achieve its objectives by organising periodic peer-to-learning, public-private dialogue, training session and providing information to the public.
The Chairperson of the Alliance for Integrity Advisory Group in Ghana, Mrs Linda Ofori-Kwafo, said the best way to learn was usually from others.
“The Alliance for Integrity encourages members to share their experiences in a variety of industries and regions across the country,” she added.
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According to her, the role integrity played in a society also depended on the overall conditions. She added that members of the group would have the opportunity to join a mutual exchange of ideas between the private sector and the public sector.
Corruption undermines equitable business climate
The Senior Economist at the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), Mr Moses Agyemang, said at the inauguration that corruption in any form served as a major deterrent to investments and undermined an equitable business climate.
“Corruption and excessive bureaucracies raise the cost of doing business, resulting in low transparency and investor confidence,” he added.
That, he said, would eventually lead to poor public infrastructure and service delivery which hampered business growth and competitiveness in the country.
Citing an example, he said, a 2002 study by the Africa Union estimated that corruption cost roughly 25 per cent of the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to the World Bank and the World Economic Forum, corruption increases the cost of doing business up to 10 per cent globally.
He said PEF had over the years been engaged in a number of initiatives and actions in partnership with organisations towards promoting responsible business operations in the country.
Some of these actions include training of SME’s on good corporate governance practices, review of the Public Procurement Act 2003, the Ghana Business Code and the United Nations Compact and most recently, the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP).
He added that the federation’s role was to ensure that the private sector operated as good corporate citizens of the country.
Minister of State
The Minister of State in charge of Private Sector Development, Mr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, who launched the initiative, underscored the need for the country to support initiatives that would help reduce corruption in Ghana.
“Ghana has gone a long way in the fight against corruption for the past decade. The country has also gratified the United Nation (UN) Convention on anti-corruption and the African Union (AU) Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption,” he noted.
Again, he said, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) was established by the Government of Ghana to address corruption in the public and private sectors.
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He reiterated the government’s commitment to create an enabling business environment for companies in the country to grow and expand.