Gov’t to offer more incentives to local entrepreneurs

Ms Mawuena Dumor Trebah - CEO of GIPC
Ms Mawuena Dumor Trebah – CEO of GIPC

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mrs Mawuena Trabah, has expressed the resolve of the centre to focus on local investors for them to contribute more meaningfully to the economy.

She said the GIPC Investment Law had subsequently been reviewed to, among other things, offer local investors the same benefits and incentives enjoyed by new foreign investors as a way of motivating them to give of their best.

Speaking at the maiden CEO’s Breakfast Meeting with Ghana Club 100 members in Accra, Mrs Trebah said, “Making the local companies in the country strong is another way to attract new ones into the country and once the President is committed to doing something different for the private sector in the country, we will do all we can to lend our support.”

The meeting offered the members of the Ghana Club 100 as a collective body, the opportunity to share  ideas for the first time with the GIPC and design a road map towards leveraging the various opportunities thereof to grow their businesses.

Mrs Trebah said the GIPC was going to use a three-prong approach – image, experience and direct investment – towards dealing with the issues of the local companies.

On image, she said, “We are going to ensure that we project the right image and reputation of GIPC to stakeholders, while ensuring that investors who come to Ghana through the GIPC have only positive experiences in the country.”

She said the GIPC wanted to achieve positive results which would reflect on the country and the players in industry.

“We are working to diligently pursue aggressively the mandate of the GIPC to attract and retain investments, both foreign and local, to support the national development agenda,” she said.

Mrs Trebah said the centre had set some targets to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by 20 per cent from $4.9 billion to $5.8 billion this year.

“We also intend to stimulate $1 billion worth of domestic private sector investment for the same period from $726 million; see a 30 per cent increase as a direct result of new private sector investments within the year,” she said, adding that those targets could be met with the full support and co-operation of the players in the private sector.

The Chairman of the Board of the GIPC, Mr Ishmael Yamson, for his part, said there was the need for the private sector players to learn to take risk.

“It has often been the case that companies only want the government to take risk on their behalf, while they take the benefits when things go rosy. But such practice  is not the best and must change,” he said.

Mr Yamson also called on the private sector to devote some funds towards building the capacities of their staff to enable them to serve in relevant positions to help grow their businesses.

The Minister of State in charge of Public/Private Partnership, Office of the President, Mr Rashid Pelpou, assured the private sector of the government’s resolve to offer better support to the players to enable them to grow their businesses.

“The President is committed to his word about making the private sector an ally and we will soon see what is in store for you,” he said.

Source: Daily Graphic

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