Dan Acheampong, president, GEA
DAN ACHEAMPONG, president of the Ghana Employers Association (GEA), has asked government to cut tariffs on non-domestic electricity consumption, to help boost industry.
Mr Acheampong, who was speaking Wednesday in Accra at the 59th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of his outfit, said Ghana still remained comparatively high on the price index for electricity tariffs in West Africa.
He appealed to government to speed up the rate of developing other cost-effective forms of renewable energy supply to promote business growth, since these were cheap in the medium to long term and also environmentally-friendly.
He said that would keep investors who are already operating in Ghana, and appealing to new local and foreign investors.
According to Mr Acheampong, another main problem that obstructed business growth and its sustainability was counterfeiting and illicit trade, which pushed long term negative repercussions on local brands and their income.
The GEA president added that another issue of concern was that the manufacturing sector, which represented a significant bunch of Ghana’s real sector, was becoming less competitive partly as a result of illicit and counterfeit trading activities.
“As an association, we respectfully request that government provides the regulatory agencies with the requisite resources to strengthen their efforts in combating counterfeit and illicit trade in the country,” Mr Acheampong said.
In a speech, Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Minister for Business Development, said to help the growth of businesses in the country, government was working seriously to reduce the cost of borrowing.
Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, commended the GEA and Organised Labour for the peaceful industrial harmony Ghana was enjoying.
He called on employers to ensure that they paid their workers’ social security contributions, as well as their tier two pension contributions, since both were obligatory.
Noting that his ministry will continue to support businesses with the required finance to create jobs and employ more people; he advised employers to allow their workers to register with labour unions and also enjoy parenthood leave.
BY Samuel Boadi