A survey conducted by renowned accounting and auditing firm, pwc, on the country’s business climate, for UK–Ghana Chamber of Commerce has indicated that cost and access to capital (80%), corruption (68%), cost of land (65%) and government bureaucracy (60%) continue to be the biggest worries of businesses in the country.

The report however rated high the availability of water, availability of power effectiveness of the legal system as some of the brightest areas.

In terms of top five cost of business, cost of fuel (66%), cost of capital (64%) and cost of land (64%) were some of the major bottlenecks to the operations of businesses.

However, for most affordable costs, labour costs (59%) and domestic marketing (58%) featured high among the top five.

With regard to the top five priorities for businesses in the new normal, expanding digital competencies (82%) came first, followed by implementing new models for sustainable growth (69%).

Respondents however expect lower corruption and improved transparency from the government.

pwc urged government and other stakeholders to take the findings of the survey with the seriousness it deserves and use it to inform policies and programmes that will eventually lead to a further improvement in the country’s business climate.

“We trust that government along with other stakeholders will take the findings of this survey with the seriousness it deserves and use it to inform policies and programmes that will eventually lead to a further improvement in the country’s business climate. We will be looking to assess – and will be delighted to find – such improvements in subsequent business climate surveys produced by the UKGCC”, Lead Researcher and Partner at pwc, Abeku Gyan-Quansah said.

“While these are all matters that keep many wide awake at night, we believe that they fall into the category of low hanging fruits or quick wins for government. This is not to suggest that they are not complex problems and that they can be solved overnight. No, but these are challenges that government has – within its reach – levers to influence. In many of these instances, solutions could be designed and fully implemented within a relatively short period of time”, he added.

Executive Director of the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce, Adjoba Kyiamah, said the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC) continues to advocate for improvements in Ghana’s business environment to reduce business costs and risks, encourage fair competition and ultimately increase private sector investments.

In line with this, the Chamber has, since 2019, committed to conducting the Ghana Business Climate Survey, offering a confidential platform for businesses to provide feedback to key business environment actors such as Government, regulators, business organisations, civil society organisations, and others.

"It is our hope that this report, which highlights the opportunities and bottlenecks to private sector development, will serve as a powerful tool for advocacy and stimulate effective public-private dialogue for creating an enabling business environment in Ghana. As with previous years, this report will be shared with the Economic Management Team of Government to inform their policy decisions", Madam Kyiamah said.

The survey was conducted among member companies of the UK – Ghana Chamber of Commerce with 47 members taking part in the survey.

This was a reduction from the 67 businesses in the prior survey of 2021. Respondents represented 16 industries and ranged from small to large companies.