Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance Company, Ken Thompson, has chastised the Nana Addo-Bawumia-led government for its lack of concern about unemployment in the country. He cited the departure of many multinationals as a case that the government is unconcerned about job creation in the country.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show, Ken Thompson said the private sector is fraught with challenges that do not support growth. He stated that a struggling private sector cannot support job creation and sustainability.
“The government of Ghana doesn’t care about the private sector. The government doesn’t care about creating jobs. The government is only interested in governments and the people that benefit from their largesse.”
According to the respected business executive, the government plays deaf ears to the complaints of the private sector. He said when people complain about the unsupportive system, the government is quick to make noise about the projects it has undertaken.
The government “does not listen and anytime we complain, they reel out projects that have been done. ‘We built this block, we built this garden, we built this shop’.”
Ken Thompson added that the situation is so bad that planning has now become something difficult to do. He said businesses do not know where to put their money because of the frail system.
“We’re in a situation where we are living day-to-day, we cannot plan, we don’t know where we invest. Our hard-earned savings are gone. And you know, nobody’s listening. The government does not care. All the government cares about is spending more and more money on itself,” Ken Thompson lamented.
Mr Ken Thompson noted that stakeholders’ concerns over the high cost of borrowing, high inflation astronomical taxes, and the depreciation of the cedi are often met with irrelevant government responses and unfulfilled promises.
“So what’s the consequence? Interest rates are high, you can’t do business, the population is poor, so they can’t spend. Critical infrastructure is weak; water, electricity, roads; is weak. And where you can find it it’s expensive,” he added.
According to Ken Thompson, the reasons that pushed foreign corporations out of the country will be the same things to collapse local businesses. He said while the exit of foreign companies meant locals could step up to fill the void, the challenges are enormous.
“I’m all for indigenous businesses growing because the only companies that will develop this country, and it’s all over the world, are indigenous businesses. But even if the indigenous businesses take over, we will face the same problems.
“If you started a business last year with GH₵100,000, it’s not GH₵100,000 now, it’s worth probably GH₵30,000. Who does business like this? How can business thrive?”
Ken Thompson noted that having many multinationals in a country is a plus because it adds to the value of your business environment. However, he said the government has no interest in investing in critical areas to spur business growth but spending money.
“The government is not interested. All it’s interested in is spending, spending, spending more money. The sad thing about this is that having multinationals as part of the economy gives you credibility and attracts other people to use you.”
He added that the exit of multinationals will affect local businesses because visibility will become low. As a result of the low visibility, attracting investors will be hard to come by.
“So who else is going to come and invest? And we need people to invest. Let’s deal with the issues and stop going around in circles. That’s the real issue. It makes me extremely angry. Nobody is listening, we’re not interested in projects. I’m interested in how I can plan, and have a framework that allows me to plan. You can’t plan for more than one day, what system is this?”