President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged players in the tourism, hospitality and creative arts sectors in the country to incorporate good corporate governance practices in their businesses to attract more investors.
President Akufo-Addo said that even though many companies had demonstrated commitment to good corporate governance, poor corporate governance had been sighted as the major factor that has led to the collapse of many businesses in the country.
The President, who made the appeal on Tuesday at the launch of the Tourism SME Grants under the Ghana Tourism Development Project, said in the global business space, only properly governed organisations attract investors.
He said as Ghanaian companies compete globally to attract foreign investment partnerships, they must be guided by the fact that investors are prepared to pay a premium for shares in a well-governed company.
“The onus is thus on business owners to position their businesses properly for foreign investment by ensuring that they implement and practice good corporate governance,” the President admonished.
The 2022 grants are in three categories. The first is COVID support, the second is SME support and the third is a site upgrade.
The grant is intended to transform the tourism sector to stimulate economic growth to create jobs.
It is expected that 1,500 SMEs will benefit from the grant support. In 2021, the government through the Ministry of Arts and Culture disbursed the cedi equivalent of 10 million United States dollars to some 1,400 SMEs, the President said.
This year’s grant, President Akufo-Addo indicated, “will target some 60% women as beneficiaries because a majority of the operators in the sector are female.”
Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, called on industry players to take advantage of the grant, access it and use the funds judiciously to grow their businesses.
Country Director of the World Bank, Pierre Laporte, on his part, said the tourism development project, signals the growing relations between Ghana and the World Bank, adding that it was a perfect vehicle through which Ghana can grow its economy in these difficult times in the global economy.
The Ghana Tourism Development Project is a Government of Ghana project, funded by the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) is the Project Implementing Agency.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
