GCNet at the heart of revenue mobilization efforts – Minister of Finance

News of the Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Source: Stratcomm Africa

2019-07-31

The Minister of Finance, the Hon. Ken Ofori Atta acknowledged that the Ghanaian community (Network Services) Limited (GCNet) was an integral part of the development of the country's trade facilitation and revenue mobilization program.

He said GCNet's technology interventions had played a critical role in preventing revenue leaks as the government sought to scale up its efforts to leverage more revenue for key development projects.

"GCNet is an integral part of our trade facilitation and port revenue issue, of course, and we still have a long way to go – the ratio of GDP to GDP is about 12.6% and we need to go to 19%, so the interventions provided GCNet will play a crucial role in preventing leaks, among other things, "he noted.

The finance minister said this when he received a check for 20 million Ghana Cedis (20,000,000.00 GHS) on behalf of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). The amount represents the dividend of the second part for 2018 and the dividend of the first part for 2019.

Presenting the check, Mr. Emmanuel Darko, executive director of GCNet, pointed out that the payment of dividends over the years testifies to the company's determination to support resolute and persistent initiatives to mobilize revenues from national and international trade flows. .

"It is really a pleasure for me to present GCNet's dividend to the government for a component of its stake in GCNet, which is owned by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). Interestingly, in addition to the GRA, the government has additional interest in GCNet, through the Ghana Shippers' Authority (GSA) and GCB Bank, whose respective dividends have been paid directly, "he said.

He reiterated GCNet's commitment to working with the government, GRA and all stakeholders in the trade facilitation ecosystem as it rolled out e-applications that intensified efforts to increase trade facilitation protocols so speed up customs clearance times.

Mr Darko urged the government to focus on the customs clearance functions of the GRA customs division as it was also key to meeting the leakage challenge in the revenue collection chain.

GCNet's tax payments through various statutory vehicles, for example between 2016 and 2018, represent an average of 72 million crowns per year.