Nana’s promises renew private sector confidence – PEF

The Chief Executive Office of the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), Nana Osei-Bonsu, has maintained that the promises made by President Akufo-Addo’s government has brought a renewed sense of confidence among private actors in the economy.

His comments come on the back of the president’s reiteration during his investiture last Saturday that, his government is committed to creating a conducive environment that will make the private sector the main driver of economic development.

Notable among those promises is the reduction of taxes, which resonates well with a lot of business people who argue that high taxes in the economy are stifling them.

At his inauguration, President Akufo-Addo said: “We believe that the business of government is to govern. Ours is to set fair rules. We will provide vision and direction and shine the light down the path of our entrepreneurs and farmers. We are, indeed, counting on a vibrant private sector to drive growth and create jobs.

We will stimulate the creative juices of innovators. We will bring back to life the adventurer in you. It is time to imagine and to dream again; time to try that business idea again. We will reduce taxes to recover the momentum of our economy.”

The president’s comments, Nana Osei-Bonsu reckons, is enough motivation to bring back lost confidence in the private sector.

“The promises of the new government give the private sector the confidence and the boost because all that we are saying is that government should create opportunities for the private sector. We have cried loud and clear over the period about absence of opportunities, absence of enablers that will allow us to grow.

So, the promises and the statements made by the president are very encouraging and give us the confidence that we can now strategize to create the resource and the competences to take advantage of the opportunities that will ensue. So indeed, is a boost in the arm of the private sector,” Nana Osei-Bonsu said.

He, therefore, urged private actor actors to brace up for any opportunities that will come from the fulfilment of the promises stated by the government.

The private sector, over the past years, has been saddled with a lot of challenges, including the power crisis that even resulted in the collapse of some businesses; high water and electricity tariffs; high taxes; and exchange rate instability, among others.

Even as he is confident the new government will deliver, Nana Osei-Bonsu urged it to pursue prudent policies and initiatives that will correct some of the challenges in the economy and set businesses on the path of growth.

“What we want to see is government’s prudent policies, prudent expenditure, and prudent management of the economy. We want them to also avoid the approach by the Bank of Ghana’s inflation targeting that has resulted in high interest rate that has made it overbearing for the private sector to access capital,” he said.