The disruption of value chains and other industrial challenges, according to Mr. Yofi Grant, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), have made it even more important for everyone to work together to find solutions to the issues affecting Ghana’s manufacturing industry.
Mr. Grant was speaking during the GIPC’s second CEOs Breakfast Meeting of the year, which focused on Accra’s manufacturing industry.
The occasion provided a special chance for important governmental and corporate stakeholders to learn more about Ghana’s manufacturing sector and its enormous business potential.
It also spearheaded a discourse on the challenges of the sector, and allowed participants to exchange innovative ideas on how to advance the sector, as well as agree on some recommendations for policy formulation.
Ghana’s manufacturing sector has been a significant source of its economic growth in recent times.
The sector’s progress is attributed to government’s aggressive industrialisation drive, with accompanying initiatives such as; the ten-point industrial agenda, the Automotive Development Policy, One District-One Factory policy, Integrated Aluminium Industry project, and the Ghana CARES programme.
Nonetheless, the current instabilities in the global business ecosystem, due to noticeable political and health crisis, has significantly affected the manufacturing sector.
Underscoring the role of the private sector in driving industrial growth, Mr Grant noted that partnerships between the government and private players, was the right step to finding the needed solutions.
“We recognise the urgent need to embrace the private sector as partners in undertaking corrective actions, that can move the country forward,” adding that “Ghana’s business potential remain enormous, and government is committed to creating an enabling environment for all investors to fully leverage the opportunities,” he said.
Corroborating Mr Grant’s assertion, the Head of the One District-One Factory (1D1F)initiative at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr Kofi Addo, also noted that inasmuch asthe current global business landscape was fraught with some challenges, the opportunities in????
Taking his to turn to address the audience, the President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Dr Humphrey Ayim-Darke, said the government and the private sector will have to work together in these critical times, to address the manufacturing industry’s issues.
He mentioned that, more could be done to raise the confidence level of investors in the sector.
The event further allowed for a deeper all-inclusive debate on actionable solutions for the sector.
Key among the suggestions tabled include the need for the government to review the general tax regime, the need for the government to deliberately target and support ailing industries.
The need for stakeholders to develop the industrial value-chain from the grassroot, and the need for a review of deregulation policies was also suggested.
The CEO’s Breakfast Meeting is a GIPC-initiated event, organized periodically, to bring together CEOs and business moguls, as well as government authorities, to deliberate on pertinent issues affecting business and investment in Ghana.
