Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yofi Grant, has stated strongly that the centre will no longer reserve the retail sector of the economy for Ghanaians alone.
He maintained that the practice has constrained most business owners in the sector who fear competition from growing and expanding their operations into global companies.
Speaking to journalists after a ceremony held by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Grant stated that it was demeaning to reserve the unprofitable areas of the economy to Ghanaians while investors were welcomed to control the real sectors that generate incomes and create jobs.
“If we rather create incentives for our people to develop they will go far instead of protecting them, because protectionism when there is no capital to develop means you are not going to go anywhere. Even right now as the law exist foreigners flood our retail sector. How many things do we manufacture in Ghana,” he quizzed.
Mr. Grant was of the view that it was demeaning to reserve activities such as “buying and selling,” taxi driving, and petty retail jobs for Ghanaians while the country sets high limits for foreigners to control and takeover the critical sectors of the economy.
He maintained that government will rather create incentives for business owners to grow and become global competitors.
He argued that the country cannot rely on the current status quo to always import and sell in the retail sector.
“All the people who are trading stuff in the market, where are the goods coming from, they are foreign, they are not Ghanaian made. What I am saying is that we should take the opportunity to manufacture,” he said.
“You can start by learning from your partners. When you bring the investment to actually manufacture here, we have a better chance of Ghanaians learning to manufacture than if you always have to go out there and buy the goods, bring them here and come trade them. We hardly manufacture anything but we have the resources to start some manufacturing to add value to our products,” he stressed.
Mr. Grant made the statements during a meeting with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and industry in Accra to exchange investment ideas and also encourage investors from Dubai to move into Ghana. The Dubai Chamber was led by the Director, Omar Abdulaziz Khan.
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