Private sector is hurting badly – CEO Private Enterprise Federation

The CEO of the Private Enterprise Federation, Nana Osei Bonsu, has highlighted the severe difficulties faced by private businesses in Ghana amid the country's economic challenges.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he highlighted the some difficulties faced by the sector, pointing to a multitude of financial and regulatory obstacles.

Mr Osei Bonsu explained that unclear regulatory frameworks and a lack of resources are preventing businesses from growing and planning for the long term.

“The private sector? We're hurting badly. Very bad, in the sense that the cost of money is a driver of what the private sector does. The avenues of operations and the rules of engagement are things that are hurting us badly. When the laws are not clear, the avenues are not open, and the resources to operate are not available, it makes the private sector struggle,” Mr Osei Bonsu said.

“What do we do to get these things streamlined, especially the cost of money? When the cost of money is high, the money is not available, and borrowing is at the pinnacle, at the height where you can borrow, but even repayment becomes a difficult situation, then the private sector is distressed,” the Private Enterprise Federation CEO explained.

Mr Osei Bonsu said that businesses that have to borrow to expand, payback and then create opportunities for themselves much more for their partners are left in survival mode.

“I'm not going to belabour the point that, yes, this is no politics. The cost of money is very, very high. And if they don't foresee that future, then borrowing becomes something like survivability. How do I survive by borrowing? Because if you don't borrow, you're possibly going to tank to the point where you now drop out of the system.”

He criticised the government for not heeding the advice of the private sector, which he sees as a major reason for the current economic difficulties.

Mr. Osei Bonsu emphasised that the success of the private sector influences the whole country by creating employment opportunities and building wealth.

As such, for the sector to grow as it should, the solutions and policies for helping businesses grow should transcend politics, he indicated.

“[The private sector is] the engine of growth. We are the vehicles that drive, but we don't make the policies. The policies are made by the political leadership.

"Sometimes the political leadership has eight years and within the eight years, they can learn, they can falter, they can do right, but they have got to listen,” he said.

“If they don't listen, then we all fall victims of the, I wouldn't say ineptitude, but by the ways that they have done business, which the results are what we're seeing today,” he said.

He called for the government to have conversations and engage with the private sector players, and use research to back their actions.

He added, "the private sector has to grow. the economy has to grow. The private sector cannot be stagnant in whatever ways."

"So we have to find avenues to utilise the resources we have to grow the economy, the private sector and greater the jobs and wealth," he added.