We will entrench macro-economic stability - Bawumia

Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, says though political stability has traditionally been Ghana’s attractive claim as an investment destination, the Nana Akufo-Addo administration is quickly moving beyond that to entrench economic stability as a second pillar.

While acknowledging that the country’s record in smooth political transitions has been helpful in attracting Foreign Direct Investments into Ghana, Dr Bawumia has been explaining to investor teams in Europe that by consistently keeping the economy stable and ensuring strong macro fundamentals in addition to stimuli that make it easy to do business, Ghana has the potential to rake in more investments than ever before.

“On-going efforts to formalise the economy and ensure financial inclusion, the drive to smoothly administer recent tax cuts and digitisation of major national processes would be the clincher,” the Vice President stated.

Ghana, Dr Bawumia maintains, is on the cusp of a major economic transformation, and the Nana Akufo-Addo government is determined to create an enabling environment for business to grow while prudently managing the country’s resources.

Participating in the Investment Competitiveness Forum organised by the World Bank in Vienna, Austria on Wednesday October 25, 2017 Dr Bawumia said Ghana’s record of peaceful coexistence in a sub region often rocked by conflict was a major competitive advantage in the drive to attract Foreign Direct Investment, and the Nana Akufo-Addo Government would leverage on these to make the Ghanaian economy even more robust and attractive to investors.

Dr Bawumia emphasised: “Ghana’s biggest selling point, and one that we hold very jealously and guard, is peace and stability. In the sub-region, we are one of the countries that is democratically very robust. We’ve had nine democratic transitions since 1992.

“We are very robust democratically and when we have disputes we solve them through the courts; we don’t take up arms or employ violent methods.

“So Ghana has become very reputable for peace and stability, and this has translated into increased FDI flows. We are building and leveraging this to entrench macroeconomic stability while implementing fiscal discipline.”

The Ghana government, he added, would continue with the necessary reforms to the business environment, such as e-registration of businesses, implementing a national digital property addressing system and issuance of a national ID card, to make it easier for both domestic and foreign investors to set up shop.

“The Nana Akufo-Addo government has a clear vision: to make Ghana the most business-friendly nation in Africa. We have begun the necessary structural reforms. Our ultimate aim is to make it easier to start a business and create jobs for our people. We have a young population, and we are very determined to create jobs whether directly or indirectly.”