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High cost of doing business in Ghana scares foreign investors
Ghana, a country that long has prided itself as a business friendly environment to investors, is out of reach for far too many people who want to do business here.
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This development is evident in the investment terrain as investors keep seeking other countries to do business apart from Ghana.
According to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into Ghana declined by 31 percent between 2014 and 2015.
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The total FDI of about 3.4 billion dollars recorded in 2014 declined to 2.3 billion dollars in 2015.
Also, total number of projects declined from 185 to 170 for the same period.
The value of all notable investments declined by 46 percent as the 2014 figure of about 2.4 billion dollars declined to about 1.3 billion dollars.
It is however fair to conclude that the exorbitant cost of doing business is driving many foreign investors away.
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"Ghana, the West African country is an expensive place to do business and will likely get even costlier for the foreseeable future," that’s the take of a Professor at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) Augustin K. Fosu.
Local business have also had their fair share of challenge with regards to the rising cost of doing business in Ghana.
President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr James Asare Adjei is on record to frequently highlight in its quarterly Business Barometer report on the dire consequence of the rising cost of doing business in the country.
The diplomatic community has also weighed in on the rising cost.
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The US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, says the high cost of air travel and the undue delays in visa acquisition as two major challenges to investments to Ghana.
He believes, the development has compelled most investors to divert attention to other countries within the sub-region as businesses are more endeared to ease of doing business.
This clearly cannot continue if Ghana is to regain a strong economic position.
However, the first budget of the ruling government :New Patriotic Party (NPP) has rolled out in place policies that will reduce the cost of doing business in Ghana and meet the needs of Ghanaians.
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