Local industries have expressed their readiness to partner the government to revive the country’s economy through the 24-hour Economy initiative.
As a key factor to ensure economic stability for industrial growth, the industries, led by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), insisted that the government must make a conscious effort to prioritise the needs of indigenous businesses, particularly those in the manufacturing sector, to benefit from the 24-hour Economy policy.
Some of the interventions required are financial support, tax reforms, fairness in trade and stabilisation of the cedi against the major trading currencies skewed towards firms in sub-sectors such as poultry, metal and fabrication, metal works, textiles, pharmaceuticals, vegetable oil production and cosmetics.
These were some proposals made by the AGI and its members to the government, represented by the Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Anthony Sarpong; the Presidential Advisor on the Economy, Seth Terkper, and the Presidential Advisor on 24-hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development, Goosie Tanoh, at the AGI National Council Retreat which was held behind closed doors on Friday, February 21.
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Reset
Addressing a press conference immediately after the meeting in Accra, the President of the association, Dr Humphrey Ayim-Darke, stated that the manufacturing sector must be reset to help support the country’s economic growth.
“We had an engagement with the advisor on the 24-hour Economy, and the areas of focus were the poultry value chain, the metal fabrication and metal works, textiles, pharmaceuticals, vegetable oil and cosmetics,” he said.
He explained that once the government refocused on the sub-sectors, industries would be useful in resetting the economy to be able to create jobs for Ghanaians.
He said the members of the association tabled some key issues that impacted their operations in the form of taxes, forex issues, unfair trading and other policy reforms.
“We discussed in detail the sort of policies that would be useful in the tax reforms, there was a clear admission by the economic advisor as well as the GRA Commissioner General, who was also in our midst, that the import duty gap of tax collection as well as the VAT collection within the domestic tax collection had a gap and we offered a series of proposals on how to bridge the gap,” the president added.
Economic stability
A former President of the association, James Asare Adjei, said industries were ready to work with the government to ensure economic stability for industrial growth.
That, he said, had become very necessary because the government policies would benefit businesses, particularly those in manufacturing.
“Through the 24-hour Economy policy direction of the government, AGI and its members are requesting that the government must make a conscious effort to prioritise the needs of indigenous businesses, particularly those in manufacturing so that we can scale up.
“As it is now you can realise that to be able to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), manufacturing, businesses or companies in the country must be able to grow, and hence play that role needed in the sub-region and then on the continental scale,” he said.
The former president explained that it had become very clear that the country needed to strengthen its import substitution policy through the agribusiness value chain.
“And that is one of the key things that the council retreat discussed seriously. So, these are key areas that we want to work with the government, the Presidential Advisor on the Economy, especially with the outfit in charge of the 24-hour Economy, to bring clarity and focus on the developmental areas we consider as priority areas for the economic setting in the country,” he said.
Restrategise
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AGI, Seth Twum-Akwaboah, said industries had made their readiness clear to restrategise, work with the government and ensure that there was utmost development and growth in the industrial sector.
“A number of areas were looked at in our discussion, especially on the 24-hour Economy. We believe that some key strategic sectors need to be revitalised to ensure that we have value chains in those sectors developed so that each of the chains will work and connect properly,” he said.
That, he said, would revive the industries and help them run consistently on a 24-hour basis to create jobs for the youth.
The retreat
The AGI National Council Retreat is an annual event by the AGI that brings together all members of its national council to deliberate on critical topics and strategies for the year.
This year’s retreat is being held on the theme: “Resuscitating industry to spur growth, fiscal balance and job creation”.
The two-day event which was held on February 20 and 21, 2025 provided an opportunity for the AGI National Council to dialogue with government officials and policymakers over critical issues that impacted doing business in the country.
