Improve activities to grow economy - Veep charges UK-Ghana Business Council
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has charged the United Kingdom-Ghana Business Council (UK-GBC) to improve its activities to help grow Ghana’s economy to improve the lives of the people.
He said it was important for the council to identify areas of mutual cooperation, recognise key constraints and collaborate with the government to resolve those challenges to ease the cost of doing business in Ghana.
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The Vice-President further urged the two sides to strengthen business partnerships to achieve results, since Ghana’s development no longer hinged on aid but trade and investments.
Dr Bawumia made the charge when he addressed members of the council at a meeting at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.
Meeting
The meeting discussed matters of mutual interest between the two countries.
The main areas of focus for the council include infrastructural development, domestic resource mobilisation, ease of doing business, digitisation, the extractive sector, agro processing, garment and textiles and pharmaceuticals.
Government’s role
“Our strategy has been to build an enabling governance environment to strengthen our democratic credentials as a peaceful and stable nation in the sub region,” the Vice-President said.
“Apart from the sound economic management we have been pursuing as a government, which is critical to the promotion of trade and investment, we also need a sound macroeconomic environment to pursue policies in sectors such as agriculture and industry,” he added.
He assured the council of the development of a sound domestic and legal regime to protect investors’ funds, saying the sanctity of contracts was also critical to the government.
He said part of the government’s agenda was to ensure all inclusiveness to grow the economy by developing a menu of sound social policies, the rule of law and order and enhancing public safety and security.
Digitisation, according to the Vice-President, had also been identified as a major enabler and game changer for growth in the economy, particularly as it enhanced transparency and efficiency by harmonising data for better management.
Corruption
On corruption, Dr Bawumia said the government was using a three-pronged approach to deal with the scourge — the introduction of automations, the strengthening of autonomous state institutions such as the Office of the Auditor-General and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) by providing resources for them to ensure accountability in all sectors of governance.
“These institutions were starved of resources, but now they have been given many resources by the government to fight corruption.
We have also built transparent systems of governance and established institutional framework, such as the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
“Ultimately, we believe that systems matter, not people, as far as corruption is concerned. You have to get systems, institutions and the framework right, so that Ghana becomes the eventual beneficiary,” the Vice-President said.
UK Minister
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, UK, Baroness Elizabeth Sugg, expressed appreciation for the progress and achievements made in areas such as digitisation, corruption, infrastructure and public service in Ghana.
She said as Ghana moved beyond aid, the UK had shifted its focus from resource transfer to technical assistance in health care, education and social protection.
She said the UK was highly committed to assisting Ghana transform its economy into an inclusive, private sector-led and self-sustaining.
She said the UK-Ghana partnership was epitomised by the presence of the council team in Ghana and that it would afford them the opportunity to discuss six priority sectors.
The council later held a closed-door meeting, which was co-chaired by the Vice-President and Baroness Sugg.