"Ghana To Become Business Hub of Africa" - Bawumia

The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has stated that government will continue to create a conducive environment and atmosphere for Ghanaians abroad to invest in Ghana.

He urged businesses world over to take advantage of the buoyant Ghanaian economy and invest accordingly.

Vice President Dr. Bawumia was addressing Ghanaian business owners at New York, United States as part of this tour of the USA. The event was organized by Ghana Chamber of Commerce, USA in conjunction with the Ghana Embassy in USA.

Dr.Bawumia reiterated Ghana's position as an oasis of peace in the sub-region and will, therefore, continue to showcase to the world that it is a peaceful nation to woe investors to achieving the most business-friendly country in Africa.

The Vice President also indicated the resolve of the Nana Akufo-Addo government to transform Ghana through the implementation of policies and programmes designed to make Ghana a modern economy and the toast of investors globally.

"Our government has implemented policies and programmes designed to formalize the economy and make life easier for Ghanaians and the business community. For instance, through the use of technology, getting a drivers’ licence has been made easier by making the service available online thereby cutting out the need to pay a middleman before accessing such an essential service," he disclosed.

On Processes of registering businesses, Dr. Bawumia said, Government has digitized the whole process which has taken away the long delays one had to take to get documentation to start up a business in Ghana.

"The paperless Port system at the ports, reduction of benchmark values at ports by 50% and 30% for all businesses and vehicle importers respectively are all measures put in place to reduce the cost of doing business," according to the Vice President.

"Certainly these measures are good for the ordinary Ghanaian and businesses" he added.

He also enumerated a number of critical building blocks for formalization of the Ghanaian economy such as ensuring unique identification (Ghana Card expected to be completed nationwide by next year) for every Ghanaian, location (National Digital Property Addressing System-GhanaPostGPS), seamless payment system (Mobile Payments Interoperability), justice delivery (E-case tracking, ongoing) among others.

The Vice-President maintained that the Nana Addo Addo led government is committed to moving Ghana beyond aid while creating the enabling environment for the growth of the private sector.

He assured the Diasporan community of government's readiness to ensuring fiscal discipline so that the economic fundamentals do not slip back to uncontrollable levels.

To be able to stay on track, the Vice President said, the Government has put in place, the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Financial Stability Council to help check government spending.