By Issah Mohammed
Accra, May 28, GNA – Mr John Dramani Mahama, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, has urged investors and business leaders not to abandon the country because of present economic challenges.
He encouraged them to wait patiently for democracy to provide the needed window of opportunity to change the country’s direction.
“Please don’t leave our country. It is said that the darkest hour is before dawn. The beauty of our democracy is that it affords us the opportunity to change our current trajectory.
“You can be rest assured that the new NDC will work with you to create environment for businesses to thrive,” he said at the eight edition of the Ghana CEO Summit.
It was held under the theme, “Reigniting Business and Economic Growth: Charting a Path Forward, Economic Diversification and Artificial Intelligence Transformation.”
The former president noted that the interface between economic diversification and artificial intelligence presented a unique opportunity to promote sustainable growth and prosperity for the country.
He said cooperation between policymakers and stakeholders was required for the success of economic diversification, which would reduce reliance on conventional industries and build resilience to external shocks.
Furthermore, platforms such as the annual presidential CEO dialogue would be key in promoting open communication and implementing practical approaches to achieve the full potential of economic transformation, he noted.
“I am deeply committed to fostering business growth and economic prosperity in Ghana” he said.
Mr Mahama said a future NDC-led administration would prioritize economic stabilisation and the restoration of a stable currency by initiating an economic recovery and fiscal consolidation plan based on the results of a national economic dialogue to be held within the first 100 days in office.
He pledged to, among other things, reduce government expenditure, reduce the size of government, improve efficiency and fight corruption.
He said he would also invest in agriculture, agro-processing, tourism, manufacturing, and the creative industry.
“We will work with urgency to restore our cocoa production. To improve forex flow into our economy, we will accelerate the drilling of oil and gas in our onshore and offshore concession,” he said.
Mrs Abena Osei-Asare, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance assured businesses of the government’s commitment to maintaining expenditure within budget limits despite 2024 being an election year.
“We will make sure we raise the needed revenue to balance the tide,” she said.
Mrs Osei-Asare said the government had been committed to giving tax relief to the private sector since 2017 through its approach to tax collection.
“This we did by abolishing significant taxes to free resources for private sector investments,” she said.
She however noted that current fiscal sustainability pressures required that “revenue performance was significantly improved to make it difficult to implement more tax reliefs.
GNA