Citi Business Festival<\/strong>, Mr. Osei-Bonsu said this would be more beneficial to Ghanaian businesses and investors, asserting that, “we are not asking for protectionism. We are asking for support.”<\/p>\n[contextly_sidebar id=”fjRvterpvzI55us0BmMIwX2Z276SsUx7″]He mentioned how other countries support their own business by “subsidizing their businesses to come here [to Ghana].\u201d<\/p>\n
“If a business in Holland is coming to explore possibilities in Ghana, they can tap into a resource to do feasibility studies at zero cost to them. Do we have that support in our system? No, we don\u2019t. You have to use your limited resources, in addition to all the studies and research that you need.\u201d<\/p>\n
As another example, he noted that an international hotel chain borrows could in an external environment at a 3 percent interest rate, but a Ghanaian hotel chain borrows at 30 percent.<\/p>\n
Mr. Osei-Bonsu also noted the failings within the Ghana Investment Promotion Center that had contributed to the struggles of\u00a0indigenous businesses.<\/p>\n
“The minimum requirement for a strategic investor [per the Ghana Investment Promotion Center] is GHc 50 million. How many Ghanaian businesses have GHc 50 million? So automatically, we have sidelined our own people. When the business comes on shore, they apply to GIPC and get a tax exemption. The tax exemption is 25 percent. The Ghanaian doesn\u2019t have GHc 50 million to qualify as a strategic investor so they don\u2019t get the tax exemption.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bottom line for Mr. Osei-Bonsu was that, Ghanaian businesses simply aren\u2019t competitive, hence the need for “support from government to undertake everything we need to allow us to be able to be competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Incentives would boost\u00a0indigenous businesses<\/strong><\/p>\nOn his part, Yofi Grant, the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) CEO, said a drive to prop up indigenous businesses would be a step in the\u00a0right direction.<\/p>\n
He noted that the GIPC had been a protectionist for long enough, and now needed to start incentivising.<\/p>\n
“The preference is to incentivize indigenous businesses not protect them; because all the history and literature seems to indicate that when you incentivize your local business, they do much better that when you protect them.\u201d<\/p>\n
“When you protect them, you have other issues that come; competitiveness, quality, Inter-market pricing that does not work well for them. What you want is to elevate them and project them\u2026 ours is to make sure that we create our own big businesses,\u201d Mr. Grant explained.<\/p>\n
The Investment Opportunities Forum was in partnership with the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC), and was aimed at addressing challenges that face locals and foreign investors in Ghana.<\/p>\n
The forum is a one-day conversation on the state of Ghana\u2019s readiness to attract the needed investment for economic transformation.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
By: Delali Adogla-Bessa\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The CEO of the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), Nana Osei-Bonsu, has stressed the need for more support from the government if indigenous businesses are to succeed. Speaking during the Investment Opportunities Forum at the Citi Business Festival, Mr. Osei-Bonsu said this would be more beneficial to Ghanaian businesses and investors, asserting that, “we are not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[32,171,11],"tags":[7477,3,7872,7873],"yoast_head":"\n
Ghanaian businesses want support, not protection - Nana Osei Bonsu - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ghanaian businesses want support, not protection - Nana Osei Bonsu - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The CEO of the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), Nana Osei-Bonsu, has stressed the need for more support from the government if indigenous businesses are to succeed. Speaking during the Investment Opportunities Forum at the Citi Business Festival, Mr. Osei-Bonsu said this would be more beneficial to Ghanaian businesses and investors, asserting that, “we are not […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-06T14:53:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanaian businesses want support, not protection - Nana Osei Bonsu - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-06T14:53:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-06T14:53:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ghanaian businesses want support, not protection – Nana Osei Bonsu\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\",\"name\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ghanaian businesses want support, not protection - Nana Osei Bonsu - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ghanaian businesses want support, not protection - Nana Osei Bonsu - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"The CEO of the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), Nana Osei-Bonsu, has stressed the need for more support from the government if indigenous businesses are to succeed. Speaking during the Investment Opportunities Forum at the Citi Business Festival, Mr. Osei-Bonsu said this would be more beneficial to Ghanaian businesses and investors, asserting that, “we are not […]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2017-06-06T14:53:21+00:00","author":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/","name":"Ghanaian businesses want support, not protection - Nana Osei Bonsu - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-06-06T14:53:21+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-06T14:53:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/ghanaian-businesses-want-support-not-protection-nana-osei-bonsu\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ghanaian businesses want support, not protection – Nana Osei Bonsu"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1","name":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kojo Akoto Boateng"},"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325894"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}