Cal Bank boss wants government to encourage domestic investment

Cal Bank Managing Director Frank Adu Junior is calling for a policy that will encourage Ghanaians to invest in the country.

He says any such policy must offer the kind of incentives available to foreign investors.

The Cal Bank boss was speaking to Joy Business on the sidelines of the International Banking Seminar which ended yesterday.

“Domestic investors are not heralded and I think that is something that has to be looked at,” Mr Adu said, noting that 70 percent of the population is rural but such people receive very little support and so are unable to produce on large scales.

According to him, instead of government concentrating on seeking foreign direct investments, it should rather support local farmers to expand capacity and produce more.

“So if you tell me that you want foreign direct investments, for instance, in cocoa so you are going to bring somebody from Israel or Malaysia to come and set up a 10,000-hectare or 50,000-hectare cocoa farm so he’s going to get tax rebates, investment incentives etc; what about the people who have kept the cocoa industry growing for 50 years or more? What tax rebates have they been given apart from technical services from Cocoa Board?” he asked.