Ghana ’s Govt Introduces Programme To Help Businesses Benefit From AfCFTA

Ghana ’s government has introduced a new programme to support Ghanaian businesses to take full advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA). Code-named Business Regulatory Reform Programme, the new programme seeks among other things, to strengthen local industries to make them competitive and help make Ghana’s business environment the most transparent and efficient in Africa.

‘The programme would ensure a Rolling Review of business regulations, using Regulatory Guillotine principles, which is a functioning e-Registry and Consultations Portal that will enable Ministries, Departments and Agencies to carry out systematically rolling reviews of regulations, in order to reduce turnaround times and the cost of compliance,” Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo said.

Here Is All You Need To Know

  • The Business Regulatory Reform Programme is a three-year initiative coordinated by Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, and implemented in partnership with other stakeholders.
  • The programme, aimed at improving the business atmosphere in the country, consists of seven components, President Akufo-Addo said.
  • The first component under the programme targeted reform initiatives which would ensure that Ghana’s position in the annual ‘Doing Business Ranking’ improved significantly.

Establishment of A One-Stop Registry

  • Additionally, Akufo-Addo said a one-stop registry of all business regulations would be established under the programme.
  • The purpose of the one-stop registry, according to him, is to ensure that the inventory of business-related acts, legislative instruments, regulatory notices and administrative directives are available at a single electronic registry.

“This will provide businesses with an easily accessible, one-stop repository of up-to-date information on all business regulations in the country,” he said.

Establishment of an Interactive Web Portal

Another component under the Business Regulatory Reform Programme is the establishment of an interactive web portal for public consultation with the government on business related policies and legal and regulatory changes.

“Minimum standards for transparency in public consultation will be introduced, including a consultations schedule published on the portal with timelines for receiving inputs from interested stakeholders,” the President said.

Introduction of Impact Assessment Mechanism

The reforms programme would lead to the introduction of an impact assessment mechanism to build a permanent system for quality control of new business regulations, and safeguard the gains made from reforms, he said.

“These assessments provide a tool to assess objectively the likely effects, positive and negative, of a new regulation, and propose better alternatives to achieve the agreed policy objective,” he said.

Also under the programme, he said there would be targeted regulatory relief for SMEs at early stages of development to stimulate higher levels of entrepreneurship and job creation in strategic sectors.

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Public-Private Dialogue Mechanism

The last component under the programme, the President said, was a permanent Public-Private Dialogue Mechanism for structured dialogue between the government and the private sector.

“These reforms to improve the business environment complement and reinforce the strong measures that have been taken for financial and economic stabilisation.

“With the AfCFTA covering a market of 1.2 billion people, with a combined GDP of $3 trillion, across the 54 Member States of the African Union that have signed up to the Agreement, it will serve as the vehicle for Ghana ‘s businesses to trade with other AU Member States in a more modern and sophisticated manner”.

“Empowered Ghanaian enterprises  should be frontline actors of this new, exciting journey in Africa’s economic history,” he said.

The 8th Edition of the Ghana Economic Forum (GEF) was held on the theme ‘Sustaining Financial and Economic Stability-The Key Priorities’.

 

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world