The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) says it will hold talks with the government over the proposed review of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act, which seeks to abolish the minimum capital requirement for foreign investors.
Chief Executive Officer of AGI, Seth Twum-Akwaboah, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a Special Customer Seminar on the cedi’s appreciation organised by Prudential Bank, said local industries are open to partnerships with foreign investors but will seek clarity on the impact of the reform.
“As a country, we are still having infant industries. If you look at Dubai and the rest, they started with some measures that require local content to enable them to attract investment, but at the same time give some level of equity to their indigenes. Today, they have scrapped most of those things.
“When you are starting to develop a certain critical aspect of the economy, you need an arrangement that brings the indigenes into it. I think that a partnership between foreign direct investment and local investors will be very important… When they come, we will have further engagement, and I believe it will be put in a proper context and everyone will understand what they really meant,” he said.
Economist Professor Godfred Bokpin also cautioned against rushing reforms, stressing the need to carefully balance foreign direct investment with protection for local businesses.
“We should go more on the path of joint ventures, partnerships, so that we also get to benefit from the advance technology,” he said.
“Typically, we are in a hurry to attract FDI. It is very good, but we need to manage it well so that we don’t cause dislocations in other critical aspects of the economy in the name of attracting FDI. We need to manage it very well in terms of the level of tax concessions or tax expenditure that we want to incur in the name of attracting FDI,” Professor Bokpin added.
The planned reform, announced by President John Dramani Mahama at the Presidential Investment Forum in Japan, is aimed at positioning Ghana as a more competitive investment hub by removing entry barriers.
President Mahama assured global investors that Ghana remains open for business and encouraged Japanese companies to take advantage of the country’s stability and improving macroeconomic environment.
