An Economist and Finance Lecturer, Professor Godfred Bokpin, is charging government to be intentional in supporting the growth of indigenous businesses irrespective of their political ties.

This he believes is the only way that the country’s businesses can fully benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area.

According to him, Ghana’s entrepreneurial environment is unfriendly and therefore failure by government to support local businesses will mean the country will gain little from the biggest continental programme, despite housing its headquarters. 

Speaking at a public lecture organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana themed “Promoting Indigenous Ghanaian Business to take Advantage of AfCFTA”, Professor Bokpin stressed the need to separate associations from business and run them professionally.

“One big problem why as a country we have not been able to guarantee domestic private sector leadership is that the political elite in Ghana have been scared of a worthy or powerful indigenous private sector. This has manifested in the systematic profiling of indigenous private sector including their political affiliations which then influences the posture of the state in dealing with these indigenous businesses including creating a hostile environment for them resulting in some of them running away from their businesses.”

“What we are observing is that every government in power, its affiliated businesses are favoured much to the disadvantage of the national entrepreneurial ecosystem,” he explained.

Minister Counsellor for Trade and Investment, Kofi Addo emphasised that the survival of any business depends on efficient accounting and auditing practices.

“My colleague referred to accounting and auditing as the keys to every door, but I would say they are the foundation to every business. If they are not able to stand firm, any business will crumble. However, government has also embarked on various sectorial programmes aimed at boosting economic transformation and currently being implemented to make our businesses globally competitive,” he stated.

The research concluded that tax reforms are necessary to help businesses grow as well as network effectively and capacity building.

Speaking to Joy Business on the sidelines, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana, Professor Williams Atuilik said strengthening indigenous businesses is critical to their survival.

 “From this dialogue, the conclusion is that, strengthening indigenous businesses is important in helping us solve several economic issues. As an institute, we regulate accountants and accountants interact and interface with businesses. So, we come face to face with challenges of businesses, particularly indigenous ones,  hence we thought of reaching out to business associations to dialogue on how we can together highlight key issues and solve some of them.”