Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison, has said that the Bank will continue to provide strong policy support to aid the economic revitalization process under government's CARES (Obaatan pa) programme.

He said in that direction, monetary and financial sector policies would be designed to anchor the disinflation process, create supportive frameworks for credit enhancement, and enhance the financial digitisation process to support businesses and overall economic growth.

Dr Addison made these remarks at the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) Chief Executive Officers Business Forum in Accra, Wednesday, June 23.

The Forum was on the theme: “Redefining Business Success: The path for Business Value, Resilience and sustainability.”

The Forum is to provide a high-level platform for CEOs, Entrepreneurs, Industry Experts and Policy Makers to deliberate on topical issues and make policy recommendations for the sustainable growth and development of businesses in Ghana as well as explore new business partnerships.

He said the Covid-19 pandemic had provided additional impetus to the financial digitisation agenda to improve business transactions and enhance growth.

The Governor said leveraging financial innovations, the BoG has also initiated processes for a pilot Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to further move the economy towards a cash-lite environment.

“We anticipate that the Bank’s CBDC project would further advance financial inclusion, promote the efficiency and stability of the payment system, and foster competition in the financial sector,” he said.

Dr Addison said to further accelerate the pace at which innovation could be evaluated and brought to the market, the Bank has set up a regulatory sandbox.

This will allow innovators such as banks and payment service providers to develop a variety of new product innovations and business models to address market gaps and consumer needs on time.

He said the biometric National Identification systems are also being merged with other national databases to enhance transparency, facilitate seamless transactions, and reduce the cost of doing business, and broaden the scope of Ghana’s economy-wide digitisation process.

Dr Addison said all those policies and structural reforms aimed to reposition and improve business competitiveness for future growth and enable businesses to leverage emerging opportunities such as offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

He said those supportive policy measures and regulations would also position Ghana as a competitive destination for other African businesses and investors.

The Governor said the Central Bank would continue to implement policies and pursue reforms that would improve the credit environment for businesses to engender sustainable economic growth in the long run.

The President of GNCCI, Mr Clement Osei-Amoako, said the development of the country’s industrial sector should ensure value-addition at the links and nodes of the industrial value chain.

He said the GNCCI recommended that companies that were operating under the Free Zones enclave, as well as those registered with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, should be encouraged to work with local industries to source for production inputs.

Mr Osei-Amoako said that would help ensure that local industries benefitted from the trickle-down effects of the incentives provided to the foreign companies.

He said GNCCI with over 250 years of providing business support services, had built a strong reputation and goodwill with state and non-state actors, both local and international, and “we believe that this puts them in a unique position to achieve targeted results in the interest of the business community.”

Mr Osei-Amoako assured stakeholders of the Chamber’s commitment to providing bespoke business solutions to its members and the business community through its robust analytical framework that mobilized business diagnostics data on business performance metrics, risk and innovative metrics, industry profiles, and policy impact to support businesses to better participate in the AfCFTA.

He encouraged non-members to register with the Chamber to start benefiting from the many business opportunities and insight through the delivery of value-adding products.

Mr Osei-Amoako expressed the hope that the ideas and experiences would be beneficial in achieving a new form of business success as well as creating awareness on the strategies critical for building business value, resilience, and sustainability.

He said GNCCI would continue to engage the government and other stakeholders to improve the business competitiveness of industries and the overall business climate.