An investment analyst, Mahama Iddrisu has told Citi Business News investments into Ghana would be least affected despite the country’s drop in the ease of doing business ranking.
The 2018 ease of doing business report by the World Bank has ranked Ghana 120th out of 190 economies surveyed.
According to the report, Ghana dropped twelve points compared to the position it occupied in the 2017 report.
In 2017, Ghana ranked 108th.
The country’s current position dwelt on the performance in all ten categories used in determining the ease of doing business.
The relatively high cost of electricity in Ghana plus the country’s inability to protect minority investors for instance pushed Ghana down the ranking.
But Mr. Mahama Iddrisu tells Citi Business News the development may send a bad signal to investors but it will not affect their decisions.
“Investor decision also feeds on the amount of information that people have. I am sure the strength of the banking sector, political stability and the cedi depreciation are all the remnants of the ten points that they use in grading Ghana. It is when all these things are not done that is when investors do not get comfortable and are not available to make informed decisions because the necessary information is not there,” he stated.
Mr. Iddrisu added, “Certainly it will not stop investments but what this does is that it will actually send a bad signal outside that Ghana is going down on its grading and that means that there have been something that have been badly handled by government and the people in the country.”
Of the ten categories, Ghana performed well in assisting businesses to obtain credit.
The country ranked 55th out of the 190.
In addition, Ghana performed creditably in protecting minority investors.
Meanwhile the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has stressed the need to facilitate the implementation of the new set of reforms currently being undertaken by government.
A statement released and signed by the CEO of the GIPC, Mr. Yofi Grant said,
“It is a strong reminder to all actors and agencies that the new set of reforms that have started in the 2017/2018 period, which Government expects will be accounted for in the next report, should be implemented effectively and with speed. This is necessary to ensure that their full effects are felt in the shortest possible time.”
–
By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana