Some Ghanaian businesses have revealed attempts by some West African governments to persuade them to relocate their businesses.
[contextly_sidebar id=”OGdskXnNCO9D8XiaeGoPauSoLrkcG1bn”]This was revealed by the Public Relations Manager of Blue Skies, Alistair Gyimatey.
According to him, countries including Ivory Coast have approached Blue Skies with incentives to get them to relocate their business.
“The issue is that there are people from Ivory Coast who always come around to induce us with incentives to relocate… but the fact is that we love Ghana and this is where we want to stay and produce,” Alistair Gyimatey stated.
Industry has complained about the adverse impact of the prevailing economic conditions including high interest rates, increased inflation as well as depreciation of the cedi on Ghanaian businesses.
There have been recent concerns that some Ghanaian businesses were relocating to Cote d’Ivoire following the unfavourable economic conditions.
President Mahama during a visit to the Western region last week however dismissed the claims insisting that his government has put in place measures to cushion the local businesses.
Alistair Gyimatey who contends that Blue Skies will not consider relocating to another country anytime soon, expressed worry at Ghana’s inability to add value to its exports though it is still a preferred destination for investors,
“What we have not been able to do in this country is value addition for our gold, cocoa, among others …what we at Blue Skies have sought to do is to add value at source…I do not believe that we will do any better if we were in any other country. There are several factors you need to consider when making such investments like proximity to raw materials, market and political stability. We think Ghana is very stable with hardworking people and that makes Ghanaians distinct from many other people.I believe Ghana is still a fertile ground for investments as companies are doing very well.”
Meanwhile Alistair Gyimatey has urged government to revise Ghana’s policies to favour the growth of businesses.
“Ivory coast for instance has changed its strategy by offering free zones support for up to 70 years but it is 10 years in Ghana.”
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana