Business owners across the country are calling on government to reduce taxes and review import duties to support the growth and sustainability of Ghanaian-owned businesses.

Speaking to JoyBusiness, several operators shared mixed views on business performance over the past year.

While some described the period as difficult, citing high taxes, rising import costs and weak consumer spending, others said conditions were challenging but manageable.

“Last year’s business was not so good, though. Looking at the change of government and the drop of the dollar, we expected everything to be fine, yet we didn’t see it that way. But we are just hoping this year everything will go on successfully,” one business owner said.

Another operator offered a more positive assessment. “From my side, I will say last year was not that bad. There were a few challenges, but we overcame them, so 2025 wasn’t that bad for my business,” the trader noted.

As the new year unfolds, many business owners say they remain cautiously optimistic. They expressed hope that conditions will improve, particularly if macroeconomic stability is sustained and government policies remain predictable.

According to them, a stable business environment would allow firms to plan better, expand operations and improve overall performance.

“We are praying things will be better than last year. And right now, things are coming down. We are praying that everything will be fine, markets will start going up, and everything,” another business owner said.

The business community has therefore appealed to government to introduce more flexible tax and import duty regimes to ease pressure on local enterprises.

They argue that lower tax burdens and predictable import duty policies would improve competitiveness, support expansion, and create jobs.

“If the government can peg the dollar at a rate that would favour us, not go down, but wherever it is, if they can stabilise it, it will really help us a lot.

"Because if the dollar keeps going up and then inflation goes up and down, it makes it difficult to stabilise our prices,” a trader explained.

Business owners believe that stronger collaboration between the government and the private sector will be critical in strengthening Ghanaian-owned businesses and driving long-term economic growth.