Why we need a CEO-Gov’t Compact to accelerate economic transformation

Public procurement has a long history. Written on a red clay tablet, found in Syria, the earliest procurement order dates from between 2400 and 2800 B.C. The order was for “50 jars of fragrant smooth oil for 600 small weights in grain” (Coe, 1989, p. 87).

Every leader will eventually leave the office they once occupied, surrender the authority they once exercised and become part of the history of an institution they may have spent decades building, transforming or defending.

Ghanaian businesses have become fluent in the language of currency risk, tracking the cedi daily as FX hedging becomes standard practice for large firms. Yet raise commodity price hedging in the same boardrooms and the conversation stalls.

For many young people, the transition from school to tertiary education represents one of the most significant shifts in their educational journey.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote in The Common Law (1881): “The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience.” Tax law must respond to experience too.

Every December, the arrivals hall at the Accra International Airport fills with Ghanaians and foreigners coming home for Christmas and in the course of their visit, some explore business opportunities in Ghana.

Ghanaian businesses have long faced a structural bottleneck, the difficult transition from promising, sustainable ideas to commercially viable, scalable enterprises. While the commercial case for green technology, waste recycling, renewable energy, and sustainable agriculture is clear, securing risk-tolerant financing has historically been an uphill battle for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Imagine two families living in the same city. Both earn $120,000 a year. Both have stable jobs.