Support Private Enterprises With Heritage Fund – Otumfuo

Dr Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso (right) interacting with Otumfuo Osei Tutu II

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has advised government to use the Heritage Fund to support the private sector by granting soft loans as part of the country's industrial revolution agenda.

According to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the government must act forcefully to support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to access finance- be it loans or grants, as Ghanaians look forward to economic prosperity.

“We need deliberate government policies to change the face of Ghana's economy such as government-backed schemes designed to help private enterprises to establish and grow. This is what Ivory Coast did after the civil war, and now inflation is as low as three percent there,” the Asantehene stated.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II made the disclosure when officials of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce (GNCC), led by their President, Dr Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso I, called on him at the Manhyia Palace yesterday to seek his blessings.

The Asantehene said “the private sector as the engine of growth of the economy” slogan would remain rhetoric if government does not do something to encourage more banks to lend to private enterprises that employ 60 percent of the labour force.

In the view of Otumfuo, Ghana's best bet for sound economic growth and development lies in agriculture and industries, intimating that oil cannot take the nation anywhere.

He also called on government to give tax holidays to start-ups for them to expand in order to give employment to the youth of the country, urging traditional rulers not to charge entrepreneurs exorbitant fees in their quest to secure land for the establishment of enterprises.

Dr Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso I, President of the GNCC, was grateful to Otumfuo for his insights and in-depth knowledge in the area of commerce.

According to him, GNCC is keen on assisting government to implement the one-district, one-factory project, which has the potential to improve the country's economy.

“There are several interventions in this project in the value chain and we will continue to provide the needed leadership to enterprises to respond to this project by government,” he disclosed.

From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi