Executive Chairman of the McDan Group, Daniel McKorley, says government must do more to protect the private sector, insisting that local businesses are taking the risks needed to drive Ghana’s economy and should not be left exposed.

Speaking at the launch of the 10th Ghana CEO Summit in Accra, Mr. McKorley said Ghana’s economic transformation would depend heavily on the strength of the private sector and its ability to invest, innovate and create jobs.

He urged government to move beyond rhetoric on indigenisation and put in place real protections for Ghanaian enterprises.

“Various governments should walk the talk of indigenization, and it shouldn’t just be rhetoric,” he said. “We need, government needs, to protect the private sector against foreign invasion.”

Describing local businesses as central to the country’s future, he added: “We are the risk-takers of the country, and we must be protected.”

Mr. McKorley also tied private sector growth to the challenge of youth unemployment, arguing that business leaders must play a direct role in absorbing the large numbers of graduates entering the job market each year.

“We have to make sure that we, as captains of industry, be able to absorb the 500,000 unemployed men coming out of the universities year by year,” he said.

He maintained that the state alone cannot deliver economic transformation, stressing that government’s role is to create a supportive environment, while business must lead investment and job creation.

“The government creates the normal environment, but it is business that invest, innovate, and create jobs,” he said.

For Mr. McKorley, protecting the private sector is therefore not just about business survival, but about securing the country’s broader economic future.