By Dennis Peprah, GNA
Sunyani, (Bono), June 26, GNA-Local entrepreneurs and industries in the Sunyani Business Community have expressed the fear that irregular power supply, and intermittent fluctuations will potentially, obstruct the implementation of the government’s touted 24-hour economy programme.
They embraced the 24-hour economy concept with higher expectation for job creation, and poverty, however, noted that consistency in electricity supply was required for the nation to derive the optimum benefit from the programme.
As the ambitious transformation agenda, the 24-hour economy is President John Dramani Mahama’s national production-led reset intervention for job creation as well as making the nation import-dependent and low-value raw material exporting economy.
The implementation of the programme further aimed to transform the country into a modern, self-reliant, and globally competitive economy that works around the clock to deliver productivity, sustainable growth, jobs, and food security for all.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, Mr Ransford Antwi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Sunyani-based Suncity Group of Companies noted that: “In an era where government is talking about 24-hour economy, regular electricity remains the backbone”.
He noted that power fluctuations disrupted not only economic activities but also impeded efforts towards advancing robust industrialization.
“In fact, it’s very unfortunate, unacceptable and disgusting that when our lights go off after 9pm, it takes the next day after 10 am for the VRA patrol team to start attending to us.
Whenever you talk to them, they tell you it’s a management decision”, Mr Antwi stated, and urged the VRA to set up more patrol teams to attend to night emergencies, as the government finalized modalities for the execution of the 24-hour economy.
Mr Michael Asare, the CEO of McKenzie Ghana Limited, a local garment manufacturing company observed that power stability remained essential now if the private sector could contribute positively and made the 24-hour economy implementation successful.
He said his company which sports including PE kits, football jerseys, athletic vests and tracksuits had well positioned itself to join the 24-hour economy, however expressed the worry that instability in electricity supply would frustrate the programme implementation.
Mr Asare noted that: “Others will apparently suggest the use of generators to back power supply, but that will be expensive and create an unfriendly business environment for the private sector”.
“If we resort to the constant use of generators, then our production costs are going to jump and that will definitely affect our customers and thereby make the business environment unconducive for the private sector to flourish”, he added.
In his view, Mr Kofi Vinyo, the CEO of the Kwatire-based Kofi Vinyo Company Limited (KVCL), a solely organic agro-processing company in the Sunyani West Municipality, the role of the private sector remained integral if the 24-hour economy programme could achieve the required impact for the nation.
He called on the government to support the private businesses and industries that would be involved in the 24-hour economy to procure plants to augment their electricity supply.
Mr Vinyo said that: “The plants are expensive and we expect the government to provide long-term loans for local manufacturers and industries to procure the plants”.
He added that: “In fact, substantive power generation is needed for the private sector to support the 24-hour economy programme”.
GNA
Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Dennis Peprah
[email protected]