'We kill foreign investors after they have domesticated' - Dr Ofosu-Dorte

Senior Partner at AB & David, Dr David Ofosu-Dorte has said the environment is not really conducive for businesses to thrive.

According to him, foreign investors after pumping their monies into projects in the country are watered down once, they are domesticated.

In a business context, zenbusiness.com defines domestication as the process of moving a company's legal registration or incorporation from one state to another while maintaining its existence as a single entity.

This allows the business to operate under the laws and regulations of the new state without having to dissolve and re-establish itself.

Ghana, in 2023 received investments totaling $649.5million. This is a 55% drop from the previous year which recorded $1.47 billion.

Dr Ofosu-Dorte indicated at the Ghana Economic Forum held on August 8 at the Movenpick Hotel that an economy with over 20% inflation cannot be reduced with the Bank of Ghana's monetary policy rate.

The monetary policy rate, as of May this year was pegged at 29%.

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison explained that the 29% is based on risks to inflation moving slightly on the upside, exchange rate pressures and adjustment in transport fares.

"When it comes to the economy, creating opportunity is often thwarted by external factors...Our problem has never been lack of a model or plan or strategies. I reject the notion that our leaders are visionless...our real problem is that they have all abandoned the vision along the line," he said.

"We need to reengineer our attitudes towards foreign direct investors. Every country grows with FDIs...what we seem to do is to grow round bringing foreign direct investments and kill them after they have domesticated. I have thrown a challenge, I want to see GIPC or anybody tell me the growth of foreign direct investors after they have domesticated in this country 5 years and beyond," Dr Ofosu-Dorte added.

The Ghana Economic Forum is an annual event aimed at fostering dialogue among key stakeholders on critical economic issues.

This year's theme was "Unlocking Opportunities: Re-engineering Ghana’s Economic Model for Sustainable Development".

SA/NOQ