Government to improve ease of doing business - Kyerementen

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerementen, has assured the investing public of government’s resolve to improve the ease of doing business in the country.

“We are committed to improving the business regulatory environment. Government has already launched very comprehensive programmes and reforms in support of private sector development. We are also looking at improving our ranking on the World Bank (WB) doing business index, and our objective is to make Ghana the most business-friendly in the whole of Africa,” Kyerementen said.

Mr. Kyerementen was speaking at a sod cutting ceremony in Accra to officially commerce the construction of a US$30 million private real estate project, called the Ayi Mensah Park, located near the Aburi Mountains.

“Admittedly, this comes with a number of challenges but the point is that we have launched programmes to deal with all these key problems confronting our private sector,” he added.

Currently, Ghana is ranked 108 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business in the December 2016 World Bank annual ratings.

Ghana’s rank improved to 108 in 2016 from 111 in 2015. Ease of Doing Business in Ghana averaged 84.67 from 2008 until 2016, reaching an all-time high of 112.00 in 2014 and a record low of 60.00 in 2010.

In Africa, the country is ranked 11th on the ease of doing business below Mauritius, Kenya, Rwanda, Lesotho, South Africa, among others. However, it is ranked first in West Africa.

The Ayi Mensah Park

The Ayi Mensah Park project is a partnership between IndigoHomes, BlackIvy Ghana Limited, and Mercury Estates.

The project, which is located at the foot of the Aburi Mountain, near the Ayi Mensah tollbooth, is a gated 218-mixed residential development.

The development will consist of one-bedroom luxury condos, two-bedroom terrace town homes and three-bedroom semi-detached town homes, priced from US$70,500.

Commenting on the project, the Trade and Industry Minister commended the developers for contributing to reducing the country’s housing deficit, and creating jobs for Ghanaians.

“We have a deficit of over 2million housing units in our country. This seems to be growing at an average of 120,000 units every year. So you can imagine the gap that needs to be filled. For most of us, one of the things that we all dream of is to have a roof over our heads, so any initiative that delivers homes and housing units, I think is one that needs to be appreciated,” Mr. Kyerementen noted.

“The interesting thing about this particular technology,” the Minister added, “is that you will get the concrete that you are looking for, but at the same time you are getting a quality home which is delivered to you with speed. So I think that this is where as a country, we should be moving to,” he added.

Anthony Okyere, President of IndigoHomes, said: “As a value-driven business, we are delighted to bring an exciting new product to the residential real estate market in Accra. We are dedicated to building communities that inspire people to love where they live.

To build quality homes, we have engaged talented architects and deployed renowned professionals locally and worldwide to carefully plan Ayi Mensah Park. We will also continue to develop technologies and partnerships that offer both quality and speed,” he added.