Director of Business Development Service at Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Johnson Opoku-Boateng, has called for a new tariff regime over the possible traits of unfair trade practices with the commencement of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AFCFTA),
He asserts that, the outline of tax reliefs for indigenous companies will increase their production and subsequently reflect in the growth of the economy.
“AGI is concerned about unfair competition and unfair trade practices. We should also be looking at the tariff regime. Instead of saying you want to reduce taxes for products that are coming from outside the country; that is finished product, so that you’d have volume coming in and based on the volume then you’re going to be having a lot of money from taxes, juxtapose that against Ghanaian industries who are employing Ghanaians here. They are going to be on the losing side because their products are a bit expensive”.
The implications of the tax reduction he insists, will urge more people to venture out onto the plains of business in the manufacturing industry.
“What happens is that you’re now going to be pushing a lot more people into trade and commerce and then you collapse your manufacturing industries. What are you doing in turn? You are actually increasing employment in those other countries. At the end of the day, you become like a sales point or like a place where people just flood in and sell”.
Johnson Opoku-Boateng
Meanwhile, the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of AGI, Tsonam Cleanse Akpeloo, has commended government’s aid for the private sector over the years.
According to him, although there is still more room for improvement in the business arena, he reckons the Association has “enjoyed a good working relationship with successive governments”.
Subsequently, he expressed some optimism that cooperation with government will continue in empowering the private sector to become the epicenter of economic growth in Africa.
He further charged government to “earnestly pursue policies that will ease the business environment, reduce the cost of capital and financing, and remove all regulatory bottlenecks”.
“As businesses continue to manage the aftermath of Covid-19, we expect that Government will continue to bail out troubled businesses and provide stimulus packages to support efforts by businesses to bounce back.”
As the pandemic gripes on, Mr. Akpeloo entreated business executives to make their businesses more robust.
“While we hope for the best, we must prepare for the worst and develop strategies to overcome such situations should they ever happen.”
Tsonam Cleanse Akpeloo
Encouraging the Ghanaian business community, he intimated that, they remain upbeat and ahead of the pack to ensure the growth of their businesses.
Mr. Akpeloo also opined that, one of the ways to position themselves to strategically benefit from the AfCFTA is to “strengthen corporate governance systems, redefine models, and realign brands in order to remain competitive vis-à-vis the expected ease in movement of goods and services across borders, as a result of the removal or reduction of import tariffs on most goods and services produced in Africa”.
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