Posted: Daily Guide | www.dailyguideghana.com
Friday, 27 August 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Kama Group of Companies, Dr Michael Agyekum Addo has summed up the frustrations of Ghanaian businessmen.
Dr Addo noted that though several reasons have been assigned to the ‘poor’ performance of Ghanaian businesses and their products on the local and international markets, there is more to it than the usual reasons, which includes issues about funds, transport, natural resources.
He disclosed this at a round-table discussion organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) that was aimed at exploring ways ‘towards a national agenda to ensure consistency in government policy for the private sector.”
The purpose of the forum was to provide a platform to discuss how to kick-start a policy framework geared towards private sector development in Ghana.
Whilst he appreciates the efforts of successive governments to support local businesses with initiatives such as the Export Development Fund (EDIF), the accomplished businessman said they have not done enough to protect them against the unhealthy trade practices and competition from their foreign counterparts, adding that most of their products have been subsidized by their respective governments.
It has been argued that successive governments have not done a good job in creating and running productive enterprises to create employment and incomes for the citizenry- a role that the private sector has assumed.
Though the private sector is considered as the engine of growth of the Ghanaian economy, Dr Addo indicated that most of the facilities that government extend to local manufacturers, who import machines and raw materials into the country for production, are nothing but mere niceties which only look good to the eyes but in reality are extremely difficult to access.
For the offers that come from the Free Zones Board (FZB), he said the little said about it the better since the processes a company has to go through in order to access it serves as a deterrent, stressing that it takes between five to seven months for companies to get their refund after going through strenuous processes.
“What kind of policy is this?” he asked rhetorically. “It has to be modified such that the refund would be fast enough to make the zero rating meaningful.”
He stressed that until government creates the necessary environment for effective implementation of sound policies the claim that the private sector is the engine of growth would be nothing but a mere lip service and mirage.
The practical nature of his submissions attracted intermittent applause from the high-profile personalities including industry players and members of the academia who graced the occasion.
In the pharmaceutical industry where he is a key player, he narrated the tortuous ordeal that they go through to obtain reimbursement from the country’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), stressing that the funds delay for up to six months.
He believes these and other poor policies of government stifle local businesses and stressed the need for government to revise them, since according to him, they were killing local businesses.
He said even though several attempts have been made by successive governments to strengthen and develop the private sector, most of them have been on ad hoc basis and achieved very little results.
The CEO of the Kama Group of Companies, who sounded emotional about the situation, also talked about the stringent conditions that are attached to loan facilities extended to local businesses by foreign institutions such as the Global Fund.
“It is like a fence with dogs at the gate, you cannot enter.”
On the issue of the Global Fund, he said before one could put in a tender for its products, the company must be World Health Organisation (WHO) pre-qualified.
They are so high that in the whole of Africa, there are only three facilities that are WHO pre-qualified with Ghana not an exception, he said.
Meanwhile, the local Food and Drugs Board (FDB) and the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) are all certified institutions which operate under the terms and conditions of the WHO.
According to him, medicines and products that are produced in Ghana have been tested and proven to have the same curative functions as those imported.
“Why is it that medicine that is being supported by the Global Fund cannot be tested locally?”
Interestingly, he said when these international organizations run short of products, they turn to the local companies for refuge- an indication that their products by all standards qualify for the world market.
He called on government to make policies that would inure to the benefit of local companies and set up an industrial fund like the GETFUND to assist indigenous companies.
He stressed the need for government to assign commercial attachés to the country’s foreign missions to promote the private sector in Ghana and urged Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of patronizing made in Ghana goods to help grow the economy and set standards for companies.
A Senior Fellow of the IEA, Dr Kwadwo Tutu believes that Ghana as a country cannot attain the middle income status by the year 2020 unless adequate steps are taken to reform the private sector to enable it play an role effective.