Ghana is losing its competitiveness in the region because of rising cost of doing business – AGI CEO

The Chief Executive of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Seth Twum-Akwaboah, has revealed that Ghana is losing out on its competitiveness in the West African region due to the rising cost of doing business.

According to him, the situation is compounded by the “unfriendly tax regime” faced by businesses.

“Some enterprises in their attempt to cut their cost of operations have had to move some of their operations outside the country, so they can remain competitive as a business”, he announced.

Mr. Twum-Akwaboah noted that compared to Ghana’s peers in the region the country is the most expensive in the region.

“Ghana is quiet an expensive country in terms of production and we are not improving that much”.

According to him, there is the need for government to take a second look at some of its policy measures to help improve the business condition for the private sector.

“Some of these businesses have built a model where they can move their operations elsewhere, in terms of where it is cheap to do business”.

“Industries are not asking for protectionism, but rather policies that will aid in the growth of local manufacturing firms”, he added.

He continued that some firms have also been forced to lay off workers as part of efforts to stay in business.

Cost of finance

Mr. Twum-Akwaboah noted that another major factor affecting the operations of businesses is the cost of finance in the country.

He said most enterprises are struggling because they cannot afford the high cost of borrowing to sustain their operations going forward.

Mr. Twum-Akwaboah was worried that institutions that have been set up to help reduce the cost of finance over the years have not also helped that much.