‘Fireworks’ at ceo summit
-As Bawumia, Mahama tackle each other
By Isaac AIDOO & Daniel NONOR, Accra
The flagbearers of the two main political parties for the December elections shared their policy proposals at the 8th Ghana CEO Summit.
The summit brought together two of Ghana’s prominent political figures to discuss critical issues affecting the country’s economy and development.
The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Mahama, attended the conference in person, while New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia addressed the summit through a video link from Canada.
President Mahama, who spoke first, critiqued the government’s performance, focusing on areas where he believes the government has performed abysmally.
He raised concerns about unemployment, the rising cost of living, and what he described as the administration’s failure to effectively manage public resources.
He proposed alternative strategies to address these issues, drawing on his experience as a former president.
Ina swift response, Dr. Bawumia made a case for the current administration’s policies, emphasizing the strides made in digital transformation, financial inclusion, and infrastructural development.
He highlighted the government’s achievements in various sectors of the economy and the social intervention programs that have positively impacted millions of Ghanaians.
This year’s event was themed “Reigniting Business and Economic Growth: Charting A Path Forward; Economic Diversification and Artificial Intelligence Transformation. A Private-Public Sector CEO Dialogue and High Impact Learning.”
President Mahama
Providing further detail, President Mahama urged captains of industry to “tarry a bit more” and not leave the country, emphasizing that “the darkest hour is before the dawn.”
He expressed confidence that a new NDC administration would work with businesses to create a conducive environment for growth and expansion, providing opportunities for Ghana’s youthful population.
President Mahama highlighted the need for innovation, entrepreneurship, and access to capital, research, and development.
He emphasized the importance of collaboration between the government, the private sector, and academia to achieve economic diversification and transformation.
He assured industry leaders that regulations would be aligned with their needs, enabling businesses to thrive in a dynamic market environment.
The former president urged CEOs to play a pivotal role in reigniting business and economic growth in Ghana by providing world-class support, upscaling their workforce, and establishing an open and transparent regulatory framework.
He envisioned an economically diversified landscape with a balanced mix of industries and markets producing high-value-added activities.
“Through collaboration, innovation, and strategic leadership, you as the corporate leaders and captains of industry will help chart a path forward towards a more prosperous, resilient, and inclusive future for all Ghanaians,” he added.
The NDC’s strategy, he explained, hinges on optimizing existing regulatory frameworks, maximizing their advantages while intervening judiciously to tackle uncertainties and voids in regulation.
“Through ongoing dialogue with industry leaders, trade associations, and regulatory agencies, we will ensure that regulations are aligned with industries’ needs, enabling businesses to thrive in a dynamic and evolving market environment. We will urgently ensure that regulation does not become an obstacle to development of business. As we lead Ghana into a new era of growth and innovation, it is vital that we navigate the regulatory landscape with precision and foresight,” the former president stated.
By creating an environment conducive to business, an NDC government will aim to attract foreign investment, invigorate local entrepreneurship, and propel sustainable economic growth.
Additionally, “this centralized platform will foster collaboration between multinational corporations, small and medium enterprises, and innovative startups, augmenting Ghana’s economic competitiveness and its role as a regional trading hub. Our foreign missions will establish trade and business innovation desks to position Ghana as a business hub.
“They will thereby assist multinationals and local companies in achieving growth while advocating for the expansion, enhancement, and diversification of local industries. We will revive the famous Gateway Programme to reposition Ghana as a gateway for African investment.”
The former president gave the assurance that Ghanaian-registered businesses will be given priority in government procurements. “We want Ghanaian business people to dominate their economy.
Africa boasts the world’s youngest population, with 70% of sub-Saharan Africans under the age of 30. If harnessed effectively, this presents a significant opportunity for economic growth,” the NDC flagbearer stated.
Dr. Bawumia
For his part, Dr. Bawumia expressed his vision to empower the private sector as a means to reduce excessive government expenditure.
He said a key feature of his government’s expenditure rationalization agenda, if elected as president, would be to actively involve the private sector in financing key development projects.
“If you look at our whole tax revenue from import duty, it is GH₵ 15 billion. If you’re able to rationalize or reduce government expenditure and replace it with private sector expenditure, you create a lot of fiscal space, and that is where I’m headed,” he explained.
He noted that the government often runs into budget deficits mainly because it shoulders all the financing responsibilities for major projects that could otherwise be handled by the private sector.
“My view is that the government tries to do too much. You want to buy vehicles, you want to accumulate all the money and go and buy vehicles for schools and all of that. You want to build roads, and it is the government doing it,” he said.
Dr. Bawumia said, emphasizing his vision to significantly reduce government expenditure to the barest minimum in the first four years of his administration through leveraging the private sector.
“My view is that let us bring down government expenditure to between three to five percent of Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in the next four years, reduce government expenditure, and replace it with private expenditure.”
He cited the example that most of the hostel facilities in the country’s tertiary institutions were built by the private sector, suggesting that this approach could be encouraged so the government can rent from them.
Furthermore, he said the digitization agenda of the government, if pursued vigorously, could also free up some fiscal space.
He noted that the government’s digitization efforts have led to the cleaning up of the public sector payroll, removing ghost names and saving the country significant sums of money.
“We have been able to use this to address the corruption in the area of ghost workers because we are linking every worker to their fingerprints and the Ghana cards.
“Because ghosts do not have fingerprints, when we did that, they disappeared, and that is how we have been able to clean our payroll. We are saving hundreds of millions of Ghana Cedis as a result of the change we brought in.”
Other government interventions, such as the digitized address systems and increased financial inclusion, he said, have helped strengthen the country to take advantage of Artificial Intelligence.
“We have also moved on to make sure we have financial inclusion by introducing mobile money interoperability, not just between the telcos but also between the telcos and the banks. As a result, we have the fastest-growing mobile money market in Africa.”
The Vice-President also outlined his vision to implement a new tax system to help revenue generation and grant tax amnesty to help businesses thrive.
“I’m introducing a new tax system accompanied by a tax amnesty, effectively wiping out all tax obligations up to a certain year, allowing us to start afresh. The tax amnesty will be implemented next year.”
Additionally, he emphasized the need to streamline the country’s import duty structure towards flat taxes in cities to ensure predictability.
“We’ll also harmonize our import regime with that of our closest competitor, the port of Lome, to prevent smuggling through Togo into Ghana. By aligning our import duties with those of Togo, we’ll curb smuggling activities.”
He was confident that these interventions would significantly boost businesses and make them profitable.
“Businesses require predictability, and I’m confident that these tax proposals, including the adjustment of our import duty regime, are both feasible and financially sustainable.”
