Government working to improve business environment — Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the government is putting the needed measures in place to reduce the cost of doing business and improve the business environment.

“We have begun to act on the fundamentals of our economy. This has resulted in the growing stability of the macro-economy and the cedi, reduction in inflation and the abolition of nuisance taxes whose aim is to shift the focus of the economy from taxation to production. All these measures are being undertaken to stimulate enterprise activity and growth. Very soon, we shall reap the benefits of more jobs and an expanding economy,” he said.

At the Africa Business and Leadership Summit organised by the Action Chapel in Accra last Friday, September 1, 2017, the President said for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the primacy of the private sector in the development of the national economy was fundamental.

That, he said, had been the very basis of the party’s economic philosophy and had been so for 70 years.

Strong economy

He said the party won last year’s election with clear marching orders from the Ghanaian people to establish a strong economy which would generate jobs and improve the living standards for the people.

The success or failure of his government, he said, would be judged by the capacity of the economy under his watch, to provide opportunities, inspire people to start new businesses, encourage businesses to invest, grow and expand and, above all, create jobs, adding that: “We all know in Ghana that widespread unemployment is the greatest threat to our future stability and social coherence.”

Policy framework

The President said the government’s preoccupation had been to put in place programmes and policies geared towards building the most business-friendly economy in Africa as a magnet for investment.

“We have begun establishing the relevant policy framework that will help businesses expand and create jobs, with the view, also, to promoting the growth and development of entrepreneurship,” he said.

He noted that there was a lot Ghana could learn from the global trend and promote a conducive and business-friendly environment in the country.

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Ghanaian spirit

President Akufo-Addo said he was determined to work with Ghanaians to change the economic conditions in the country for the better in order to ensure that young people would see Ghana as a place of opportunities, instead of a place from where they fled, sometimes at the peril of their lives.

There was the need, therefore, to do everything to create an entrepreneurial climate to enable the young people to come up with creative ideas that could be developed into businesses, he said.

“For us in Ghana, we know where we want Ghana to be, and we are aware we are not where we want to be or ought to be. We also know of the big dreams of our forefathers to build a self-reliant and self-sustaining country that would take its pride of place among the comity of nations,” he affirmed.

Already, he said, the government had begun putting in place policies that would deliver sustainable growth and cut out corruption.

“We have begun to build a Ghana that is able to look after its people through intelligent management of the resources with which it has been endowed by the Creator; a Ghana which is governed according to the rule of law, respect for individual liberties and human rights and the principles of democratic accountability. This is our path, and this path offers a new Ghana,” the President emphasised.

Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh