How Stanbic Bank proposes poor road networks be addressed

Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited is proposing that government allows private companies to join hands to build public infrastructure in their catchment areas and recoup the money invested through tax holidays.

The bank is hopeful that a proper implementation of the strategy will allow companies to refurbish road networks in their areas of operation while relieving government of the fiscal cost and its burden on budget targets.

The bank's Executive Head of Client Coverage, Madam Sylvia Inkoom, made the proposal at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting in Accra on the theme: ‘Unlocking Economic Growth Through Manufacturing - Cost Quality And Competitiveness’.

She was speaking on how financial institutions could help reverse the challenges facing the country's manufacturing subsector.

Addressing her concerns directly to the Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Osafo Maafo, Madam Inkoom said the state of road networks and other public infrastructure in some industrial areas left much to be desired.

It forces the question whether or not Ghana is putting its money where its mouth is, she said.

Should the government not have the requisite funds to refurbish the roads, she said the government could agree for two or more companies to pool resources together and develop but in a manner that allows the affected companies to recoup their costs.

"In the short term, the government may be losing money but in the long run, it serves the interest of both," she said.

She said the road network in the Tema and North Industrial Areas are currently a pale shadow of their glorious past, in spite of years of complaints from companies operating within those areas, adding that even with four-wheel drives it is difficult to navigate these areas.