Kyle Kelhofer, the senior country manager of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has said it is important for businesses and government to meet regularly to find solutions to Ghana’s economic challenges.
Speaking at the Mutual Prosperity Dialogues in Accra on Friday (2 November), Kelhofer said the meeting between businesses in the country and the government has become very important as Ghana moves on the path to economic prosperity.
Kelhofer said the Mutual Prosperity Dialogues has, therefore come, at the right time and the private sector in the country must play an active role in helping the government achieve economic growth.
He said the economic situation in the country means Ghana is not in normal times hence the need for all stakeholders to come together.
The senior country manager said the IFC with its unique development institution role of having both business and government as direct clients, has been facilitating such business and government dialogues in countries around the world for decades.
“This is a key period, where there the business sector can and must play a key role in economic growth and job creation.
Leveraging this window of increased stability to take advantage of an improved macro environment. And where resources are constrained, where private business and private investment needs to be mobilized to create jobs.”
Kelhofer emphasized that it is important for businesses and government to meet regularly and find solutions to the country’s challenges adding that this “can all mutually make Ghana grow more prosperous and stable, sooner and better.”
“It’s business people assembled here today who know better than any of us what the business constraints are on a daily basis, on efforts to create jobs,” he said.
Kelhofer said over the past decade IFC has brought nearly $2 billion in investment – in infrastructure, agribusiness, financial institutions, manufacturing, and healthcare in the country.
The Ghana Mutual Prosperity Dialogues is aimed at improving the business environment in Ghana to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) and enhance the country’s competitiveness.
By fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors, the GMPD seeks to unlock investment opportunities and promote economic growth in Ghana.
The Ghana Mutual Prosperity Dialogues initiative is under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance, which is the key actor in charge of the foreign direct investment dialogue (FDI) in the country with support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
It is under the theme: “Business perspectives on growth and jobs now”.
Objectives and deliverables
The GMPD has seven main objectives and deliverables. They are first; to identify and diagnose investment climate challenges, second; to assess the country’s readiness for increased FDI, third; to take stock of and prioritize issues that will unlock FDI attraction, and fourth; to implement measurable actions to increase investment.
The fifth is to report on reform recommendations and their impact, the sixth; is to measure the impact and deliverables and their performance against key performance indications (KPIs), and the seventh; is to explore how to leverage existing economic agreements to benefit Ghana.
Background to GMPD
As Ghana emerges from its recent macroeconomic challenges. its leadership is keen to establish a broad-based dialogue on attracting investment, with considerable input from the private sector for government to improve the environment for doing business in Ghana.
Such engagement has become more important and urgent as Ghana needs to retain and further attract foreign direct investment (FDD) to drive growth. Creating an environment conducive to both foreign and domestic investment requires concerted efforts by a broad range of stakeholders.
Thus, the proposed public-private dialogue platform aims to forge a relationship of “mutual prosperity” between the private and public sectors, understanding that neither can thrive without the well-being of the other, thus, the initiative is to be known as the Ghana Mutual Prosperity Dialogue’ (GMPD).
Overall, the GMPD aims to improve the business environment in Ghana, and attract more FDI. And enhance the country’s competitiveness. By fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors, the GMPD seeks to unlock investment opportunities and promote economic growth in Ghana.
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