GCCI members asked to move the economy forward

The President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Dr Seth Adjei-Baah, has called on members of the Chamber to reposition themselves and work hard to move the nation’s economy to a higher pedestal.

He said the development of a nation was not about the politician but the private sector since it is the sector that employs majority of the people and also create wealth and growth of the economy, adding “without the private sector there cannot be a vibrant economy”.

Dr Adjei-Baah said this when he met members of the Cape Coast Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Cape Coast to deliberate on how to network and improve upon their businesses. He appealed to the members to place Ghana first in whatever they do and to help with the development of the nation.

He said the time had come for members of the Chamber to sit up and take their destiny into their hands and not to allow foreign investors to take over their businesses, adding “if a nation’s economy is built on foreigners that nation has no future”.

Dr Adjei-Baah said he was happy with government’s decision to partner the private sector and that this would boost the growth of the economy and called on the government to place much emphasis on the” Local Content” when it is doing business with foreigners.

He said the Chamber had received a credit facility from Turkish Exim Bank for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that are into agriculture, agro- processing and export business and appealed to members to take advantage of the facility to improve upon their businesses.

Dr Adjei-Baah said a five-member committee had been put in place to facilitate the disbursement of the fund and asked that beneficiaries of the fund should repay their loans to enable others to also benefit. He said the Chamber was collaborating with the government for a “Venture Capital Fund” to support start-up businesses to develop and grow.

Dr Adeji-Baah said the Turkish chamber was ready to partner with the Ghana Chamber to build industrial zones in Ghana and that GCCI was looking for land for the project. Mr Harry Mensah, Chairman of the Cape Coast Chamber called on the members to network their businesses stressing that networking and unity were key to the development and growth of any business.