"We are really on the right track" to make trade hub between Africa and Ghana – Ahomka-Lindsay

Company News of Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Source: awakenewsonline.com

2019-03-20

Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Robert Ahomka-Lindsay said the government was on track to meet its commitment to make Ghana the preferred corporate hub in Africa.

To realize this vision, he revealed that the government is working to create a favorable environment through a number of interventions, including the introduction of seven reform strategies that will help regulate the Ghanaian market. to make it user friendly for local and foreign investors.

Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) is one of these initiatives.

The Deputy Minister of Commerce explained that the EIR is a technological tool that will ensure inclusion in the regulatory process and facilitate the badessment of the impact of a proposed regulation before his registration.

He stated that this would ensure that only the appropriate regulations would be put in place as they would involve the public and allow different stakeholders to comment.

Ahomka-Lindsay said, "Our president has made it clear that he wants Ghana to be the preferred and most business-friendly destination in Africa. To do that, there are a number of things we need to do. One of the aspects is the regulations we give to companies operating in Ghana. After the regulation has been developed, we have put in place a number of activities to improve it so that we can move from where we are to where we want to be. There are seven aspects to this, including this one. "

"This allows you to have access to the impact of any regulation you want to put in place before implementing it in an inclusive way, so that many hearts of the nation are involved in ways that allow you to to have that impact. I hope you will not put the wrong rules in place to hurt you, "he added.

He mentioned that the recently launched automotive badembly policy was one of the policies allowing the government to use the RIA structure during the public consultation process.

Automotive badembly policy was introduced to regulate the automotive industry before the establishment of vehicle badembly plants in the country, supported by global car manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Nissan, Sinotruk, Suzuki and Toyota.

The minister revealed that even though several stakeholders had taken part in the announcement of the policy, it would have been less stressful to use the technology, as in the case of the AIR, which " allows us to reduce the use of technology to reach every 30 million single Ghanaians ".

He introduced the AIR as an important tool as it will help investors make the right choices to start their businesses in Ghana.

"The company will put in place various factors before making the decision to set up a factory here or to invest in Ghana. One of them, of course, is the market, but another important aspect is: how to regulate and what are the rules of the game? And are these rules likely to change overnight? Are they predictable? Are these rules based on best practices … Can I influence and give my opinion on these rules? This is where the impact of regulation comes into play, "he said.

Robert Ahomka-Lindsay spoke at the Opening Ceremony of a Stakeholder Awareness Forum on Regulatory Assessment in Accra on Wednesday, March 20, 2019.

About the RIA Forum

Jacobs' Managing Director, Cordova and Associates, international leaders in regulatory reform, described the AIT as one of the pillars of the government's business regulatory reform strategies.

According to Jorge L. Velazquez Roa, the forum aims to sensitize stakeholders to their role in ensuring that the government makes better decisions to transform the trade sector.

He said Ghana is one of the few African countries to have launched regulatory reform strategies to boost investor confidence. The AIR is therefore a step in the right direction.

"The RIA is not something that will come out of one day or the other. It takes time and the moment is therefore ideal to start socializing what is the AIR so that people understand. It is an administrative or cultural procedure and it takes time to integrate into the government machine and also into the minds of the stakeholders, "he explained.

He commended the government because he firmly believed that the country had taken a giant step in its program to become the premier business destination in Africa.