Business confidence waning - Chamber of Commerce

The outgoing president of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce (GNCC), Seth Adjei Baah has said the business environment in Ghana is deteriorating and business confidence slowing, thereby rendering the private sector unproductive.

Mr. Baah made the comments at the the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Chamber in Accra.

He said: “it is common knowledge that the private sector in Ghana has endured difficult moments over the past years. I say with a heavy heart that the business environment in Ghana keeps deteriorating on a daily basis and business confidence is fast waning.”“The macroeconomic and infrastructural constraints have almost rendered the private sector in Ghana unprofitable, uncompetitive and unable to grow to create the much-needed jobs,” he added.

Mr. Baah also said the depreciation of the currency is affecting business planing, adding that "Clearly, the inability of the cedi to withstand the major trading currencies is due to our excessive imports against exports. This structural problem, which must be addressed immediately requires the collaborative effort of government and the private sector. To achieve this will require that we patronise goods and services produced in Ghana."

He said most businesses have suffered a lot of losses since the beginning of the load shedding exercise and called for an immediate solution to prevent more businesses from collapsing further.“This crisis has lingered on for far too long and its debilitating effects are there for all of us to see. Sadly, the energy crisis has resulted in businesses cutting down production, folding up or laying off workers, further worsening the already precarious unemployment situation in Ghana. Businesses, which have survived this hardship had to look for alternative sources of energy at exorbitant prices, which largely rendered most of them uncompetitive and unprofitable.”