A recent report by UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC) on Business Environment and Competitiveness Survey (BECS) revealed that while businesses are cautiously optimistic about future growth, significant challenges still remain.
Its findings identified taxation policy, the cost of telecommunications, government bureaucracy and the regulatory framework as top concerns for businesses in 2024.
While the manufacturing sector is a key cornerstone of the country’s economy, it continues to face high production costs including raw material costs and access to financing or capital.
Also, while recent reforms aimed at simplifying business processes such as registration and tax filing have been welcomed, respondents expressed concern about the persistence of corruption and bureaucratic delays.
Corruption, for instance, remains a persistent issue – consistently appearing among the top-five most referred components over the past four years.
These governance issues continue to erode investor confidence and undermine predictability of the business environment. Therefore, greater transparency and consistency in the regulatory framework would create a more enabling environment for both local and foreign investors.
Tax policy and the cost of power also remain key concerns, highlighting the need for government engagement to develop sustainable solutions. Persistent exchange rate volatility continues to influence pricing for domestic factors of production.
The survey also found that cost of capital continues to be a major hurdle, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which account for a substantial portion of the private sector.
Coupled with the above, higher interest rates combined with stringent lending conditions from banks have made it difficult for businesses to secure funding.
Consequently, respondents have called for government intervention to ease these financial pressures, suggesting a need for targetted tax incentives and flexible financing mechanisms to support business growth.
Without improved access to affordable financing, many SMEs are at risk of stagnation – which could impede broader economic growth.
Indeed, the 2024 survey reveals a deepening call for government-business collaboration to address these challenges, with respondents seeking proactive engagement from governmen; particularly in addressing key bottlenecks such as high taxation, government corruption, bureaucracy and financing hurdles.
