The Chief Executive of Africa Investconsult Ltd, Mr Kwesi Abeasi, has stressed the need for West Africans to change their attitude to work and time management in order to attract the requisite investment into the sub-region. "State or public employees especially have been cited on many occasions as not being as productive and time conscious as desired," he noted. He said the lack of quality educational, health and recreational facilities had also come up as being impediments in the way of attracting industrial heavyweights into the sub-regional economy. Mr Abeasi was speaking on, "Making West Africa the preferred destination for investment: The road map", at the final day of the Second Daily Graphic Governance Dialogue in Accra on Wednesday. He said the problem of labour inflexibility and low productivity; especially in the textile and garments industry, had been of particular interest to foreign investors. "These have been identified as priority areas of concern to be addressed urgently if we are to attract some of the industrial heavyweights into our regional economy," he stated. Mr. Abeasi, who is the immediate past Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), said there were other general conditions which needed to be created to make the sub-region an investor-friendly environment. He said while a lot of progress had been made in the resolution of the various conflicts in West Africa, there was still uneasy calm in some places and political leaders needed to continue to encourage one another to ensure stability in the region. He said good governance and the rule of law should hold sway in the adminis¬tration of the sub-region and suggested that countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal should assist the others to get onto the good governance and rule of law train. Mr. Abeasi said there was also the need for the simplification and harmonization of tax laws in the sub-region. According to him, while Francophone countries had made significant progress in that direction, Anglophone countries still found it difficult to even make a start. He said the lack of infrastructural facilities had been a nagging concern for most African countries and continued to be a major talking point at all major fora dealing with investment inflows into Africa. Mr Abeasi called for a coalition of forces from the government, the private sector, the media and civil society to reduce the incidence of corruption. He said globalization and liberalisation had brought in their wake threats and opportunities which developing countries had to respond to with their own distinctive competitive advantages. He said the name of the game had changed from comparative advantage to competitive advantage and so African countries, as developing countries, had to adapt their investment strategies appropriately. "We need now to think globally and act regionally, with a focus "on the returns to the national economy in the long term. Ghana should, therefore, as implied in the topic, be looking at West Africa as a whole in its quest to attract and generate investments," he said. In a practical flight plan for the sub-region to position itself as the preferred destination for investments, the investment consultant said attracting investments into the sub-region was not the preserve of governments or public officials alone but all citizens. On the flight map, Mr Abeasi emphasised the need for a vigorous attitudinal change, the maintenance of political stability in the region, the simplification of tax laws and customs duties. Mr Abeasi also proposed some steps for countries in the sub-region on his flight plan, including investments in infrastructural facilities, such as telecommunications, energy and transportation in the sub-region, the vigorous implementation of the West African common currency programme and improvement in the social services, especially health, educational and recreational facilities. His practical steps outlined in his flight map elicited several observations, comments, questions and suggestions from delegates. Some wondered why the retail business in the country was being overrun by foreign nationals; why there seemed to be a lack of youth involvement in investment initiatives; and why the country had no strategic plan for climate change. Comments bordered on how corruption could be stamped out, especially among security and Customs, Excise and Preventive Service personnel of the various countries in the region who mounted barriers on road corridors and exacted money from genuine business people. The Chairman for the third plenary session, Ms Joyce Aryee, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, said it was important for all citizens to learn about the business environment in the region and the trends and laws governing it to be effective players. She also charged all to be law abiding, do the right thing and not cut corners in getting things done. "Most of the time we want to cut corners. We are the ones who should make sure the law works. Bribery and corruption involve two people, the giver and the receiver, and both break the law," she added. Source: Daily Graphic