The World Bank Country Director, Henry Kerali, has reaffirmed the Bank’s commitment to support Ghana’s structural reforms in addition to strengthening macroeconomic stability, to help create the environment for private sector investment to spur growth and job creation.
Speaking at the Germany – Ghana Investors Forum in Berlin on Thursday, Kerali said “the maintenance of macroeconomic stability over the long-term, including across political cycles is critical to setting the stage for increased private sector investment.”
“So too are structural reforms, to enhance the business environment and create markets. These are two areas where the Government of Ghana has a crucial role to play. Let me start with the matter of macroeconomic stability,” he added.
Reforms to promote economic diversification and increase the resilience includes:
- Simplify tax administration to boost domestic revenue through voluntary compliance;
- Implement and maintain a Public Investment Management framework to ensure value-for-money in the creation of public infrastructure that crowds-in private investment;
- Enact Public Private Partnership (PPP) Law and approve its enabling Regulations to help unlock private investments in infrastructure;
- Diversify the power generation sources to include renewables and upgrade and extend transmission infrastructure to lower cost and increase access to energy;
- Enact a modern company law and approve implementing regulations to increase both domestic and foreign investment in sectors beyond oil;
- Update Ghana’s business legal and regulatory framework to reflect new trends in business practices.
Kerali commended the government for initiatives they have already taken to strengthen the economy.
However, he said more needs to be done to set the stage for what could be an unprecedented expansion of private investment, including that spurred by the Compact with Africa (CwA) initiative.
“Such investments could substantially enhance the “Ghana Beyond Aid” agenda and launch Ghana into the next major wave of poverty reduction and shared prosperity,” Kerali stated.
By Joshua W. Amlanu