AMA needs realistic property rates

An investment banker and Chief Executive Officer of C-NERGY Global Holdings, Michael Cobblah, says cash-strapped Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) urgently needs to restructure its property rate regime to rake in needed revenue to finance infrastructural development.

Speaking at the Ghana Economic Forum (GEF) last week, the experienced banker cited this month’s flood that swept through Accra causing damage to property and loss of lives as evidence the city needs a massive upgrade in its drainage infrastructure.

City authorities have long mooted the idea of issuing municipal bonds, but the move has been impeded by the absence of requisite legal framework. While Mr. Cobblah maintained that the issuing of the municipal bonds remain feasible, he urged the city authorities to consider hiking property rates to “reasonable” levels to finance infrastructure projects.

Mr. Cobblah, who was speaking as a member of a panel discussing financing options available for infrastructure projects, said property rates present the AMA with reliable revenue stream that can be exploited for the authority’s numerous projects.

Currently, property owners, depending on place of residence, pay between GH¢8 and GH¢50 to city authorities and Mr. Cobblah argued that the AMA can raise more than GH¢10billion if it reviews its rates.

“What the AMA has to do is to undertake a holistic property evaluation and consequently charge realistic property rates. There are things we can easily do -- low-hanging fruit,” he added.

According to him, the current property rates in first-class areas of the capital are very negligible; and much worse, the revenue collection process is fraught with corrupt officials who collude to evade paying the approved rates.

Also contributing to discussions on infrastructure financing, John Awuah, CEO of Universal Merchant Bank, said for the AMA to perform its functions creditably, there’s need for a total reformation of its operations.

“The AMA has to restructure its operations and outsource some roles to private companies to achieve efficiency. Functions like revenue collection must be outsourced to private entities with proper performance benchmarks,” he added.

Mr. Awuah said the recent flood must push the city authorities to pursue drastic decisions to ensure that it addresses some key challenges facing Accra. He said the authorities must acquire the political will to give the capital a modern facelift.

The panel to discuss financing options for infrastructure at the Ghana Economic Forum (GEF) was made up of John Awuah, CEO of Universal Merchant Bank; Mike Cobblah, Director, C-Nergy Global; Mr. Kenneth Thompson, CEO of Dalex Finance; Abiola Bawuah, MD of UBA; and Mr. Gabriel Edgal, MD First Atlantic Bank.

This year’s GEF was on theme “Ghanaian-owned economy -- setting the agenda for achieving it”, and was supported by Access Bank, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, GOIL and host of other companies.