Graphic Business-Fidelity Bank forum tomorrow; Captains of industry to discuss economy

Tomorrow, captains of industry and policy makers in the country will converge on the Alisa Hotel for the Graphic Business-Fidelity Bank Breakfast Meeting in Accra to deliberate on the current state of the economy and its impact on business confidence and growth.

The event is on the theme: ‘The economy and prospects for business growth.’

It will be chaired by the Managing Director of Unilever Ghana, Ms. Maidie Elizabeth Arkutu, with the Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper, as guest of honour. The President of the Association of Ghana Industries, Mr James Asare-Adjei, is also billed to speak at the event, which will bring together members of the private sector and government officials to deliberate on how to provide pragmatic steps to boost business confidence, and also on how to create a predictable economic environment for businesses to thrive.
It will be the second in the series this year aimed at creating a platform for the business community to exchange ideas on the prospects of the economy.
The first one centred on how the country could support the growth of local entrepreneurs.

Dwindling economic prospects

The event comes at a time business sentiments on the economy are dim due to the depreciating cedi, energy crisis and rising cost of finance.
Recent surveys by key institutions, including the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the AGI showed increasing concerns of the private sector over the deteriorating business environment in the country.

The latest BoG business confidence index showed a dip in business confidence from 99.2 per cent in December last year to 88.9 per cent in March, this year.
Similarly, the AGI’s 2015 first quarter Business Barometer Survey showed that business confidence dropped by 13 points, falling from 98 points to 85 in the period under review.

The findings of the surveys revealed that businesses were neither sure of absorbing job-seekers in the present nor in the next six months.
The AGI survey showed that about 50 per cent of chief executives interviewed said their employment levels would remain the same, while 27 per cent said they were sure to lay-off workers.

“For a growing nation with large numbers of students coming out of our universities, whenever we see job decreases being more than increases, it should be a concern,” Mr Seth Twum Akwaboah, the Chief Executive Officer AGI, said at the time.
“It means the manufacturing sector is not absorbing workers that much. Mind you, this also includes the services sector,” he said.
The forum is, therefore, expected to give speakers and participants the opportunity to suggest ways that the country can reverse that tide to be able to raise economic growth.