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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has charged organisations in which the state has an interest to involve indigenous micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in their direct supply chain activities.

When practiced continuously for the next five years, it would spur the growth of MSMEs, create more employment for young people and impact a lot of lives, he said.

President Akufo-Addo gave the charge when he opened this year’s policy and governance forum of the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) in Accra on Friday.

The forum, which was organised by SIGA in partnership with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Enterprises, with support from the World Bank Group, was on the theme:

“Improving the performance of specified entities; leadership and technology.”

President Akufo-Addo indicated that the nation had difficulties fashioning a comprehensive strategic approach to manage the sector of state-owned enterprises and other companies in which the state has interest, otherwise known as specified entities.

He noted that conflicting objectives, dispersed monitoring systems, the lack of transparency and weaklings of accountability had been symptomatic of the sector's underperformance.

Addressing challenges

Since assuming office, the President said, his government had to spend a significant amount of time addressing challenges inherited from the predecessors which almost crippled the specified entities.

He mentioned some of the challenges as legacy debts, low working capital, weak corporate governance structures, and a multiplicity of stakeholder policy directives with overlapping and conflicting objectives.

Others were dispersed monitoring systems, adding that the establishment of SIGA had helped to resolve some of the concerns, even though there was room for considerable improvement.

President Akufo-Addo said the theme highlighted the importance of two critical ingredients required to turn around the fortunes of specified entities in an era when the country was working to recover from the ravages of COVID-19.

He, however, expressed concern about the continued losses being made by some specified entities, pointing out that between 2018 and 2019, losses posted by specified entities rose significantly by some 200 per cent with the Auditor General's report for 2020 making for difficult reading.

“Up till this time, government is doing its best to see to the rapid growth of the economy which must bring the phenomenon of posting losses to an end.”

“The late reporting and submitting of reports by specified entities leave a lot to be desired and undermine the efforts of the Controller and Accountant General in the presentation of a global picture for Ghana’s public finances. We have to turn over a new leaf,” President Akufo-Addo stressed.

He expressed the hope, however, that he would hear success stories by the next forum.