AmCham Ghana Hosts USTDA Regional Director For A Business Breakfast

The American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana, on Friday, 5th April 2019, hosted Heather Lanigan, USTDA Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa for a business breakfast meeting at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana.

HE Stephanie S. Sullivan, United States Ambassador to Ghana, commended the leadership of AmCham Ghana for a vibrant chamber and the positive relationship between Ghana and the United States, adding that the United States shares Amcham Ghana’s goals to contribute positively to the overall economic stability in Ghana to help U.S businesses prosper and grow, to increase job opportunities and to encourage and promote Ghana’s private enterprise system.

Ambassador Sullivan gave a brief overview of the work of USTDA, noting the organization provides grants for project preparatory activities that cover economic, environmental and financial analysis for public or private sector infrastructure projects in middle or low-income countries around the world as part of USTDA’s core mission of facilitating the development of sustainable infrastructure projects and supporting the use of U.S. equipment and services. She urged members of the Chamber to take advantage of USTDA’s assistance and stated that the USTDA is not just a trade and development agency but an organization involved in transforming dreams into actions.

Mr. Joe Mensah, President of AmCham Ghana, highlighted the importance of infrastructure development and emphasized the need for Ghana to improve the business environment to attract more investments.

Heather Lanigan, USTDA Regional Director for sub-Saharan Africa stated the USTDA works alongside U.S. private sector to support the development of infrastructure in emerging economies around the world in energy, transportation, ICT, telecommunications and in some countries agribusiness to spur economic growth in partner countries and also present great opportunities for U.S companies.

Ms. Lanigan indicated that USTDA funds project preparation activities such as large scale feasibility and technical studies; and pilot projects. In addition, USTDA provides training grants to U.S. companies as well as hosts events and activities -such as the Reverse Trade Missions among others – that bring together key stakeholders from the private and public sector around the world.

She highlighted the impressive rate of return on projects supported by USTDA and noted sub-Saharan Africa, which is the region with the highest potential for infrastructure growth and strong partnerships, as also the largest region for USTDA investments. Ms. Lanigan noted that USTDA has a large variety of projects in Ghana within the aviation and energy sectors and is willing to support the development of other projects in the country.

USTDA’s priority sectors, funding criteria, project preparatory tools (feasibility Studies, pilot projects, and training grants), convening tools (Reverse Trade Missions and Technical Assistance) as well as USTDA’s past and current projects in Ghana were presented by Clare Sierawski, Power Africa Country Manager, West Africa and Shannon Roe, Country Manager, West Africa Region.

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Report : AmCham Breakfast Meeting To Discuss 2019 Economic Outlook

On Thursday, January 10th, 2019, the American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana held its maiden breakfast meeting on the theme “2019 Economic Outlook” at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra. The objective of the meeting was to provide its members with critical information about the 2019 Budget Statement of the Government of Ghana as well as how other policy developments will impact the business environment.

Mr. Joe Mensah, President of AmCham Ghana, in his opening remarks, stated that the Chamber organized the meeting in collaboration with PwC to enable members to understand the economic outlook of the country, the new tax rules and regulations, and its implications on the business environment. According to him, it would help the Chamber progress in a positive direction and also strengthen its advocacy role to enable the government to move the economy in the right direction.

2019 Economic Outlook by Abeku Gyan-Quansah, Partner, Tax, PwC

The economy of Ghana is expected to record a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 7.6% with the oil sector expected to drive growth, an end-of-year target inflation of 8% and a nominal GDP growth of about 15-16% according to the 2019 budget.

Meanwhile, the government expects to raise an anticipated revenue of GHS 58 billion against its intended expenditure of GHS 73.4 billion which will result in a deficit. About 77% (GHS 45 billion) of the entire government revenue is expected to be generated from taxes which comprises: taxes from income and property, goods and services and international trade. To achieve this revenue target will require more drastic tax and revenue measures and a drive towards compliance by the government given that the Ghanaian economy is largely informal. Also, the new Fiscal Responsibility Act requires that the Minister of Finance does not exceed a budget deficit of 5% except in exceptional circumstances. This implies that businesses will have to pay critical attention to tax regulations and ensure compliance as government will strictly pursue revenue mobilization.

The government has already outlined a number of tax measures under the various tax components. Under income and property tax, the government intends to increase the top marginal band to 30%, convert the mining sector exemption into equity, increase tax free band (tax wage earners that earn above the minimum wage), shift withholding tax in small scale mining from its current point to export, grant tax holidays to businesses under the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative and effectuate housing tax concessions.

Tax measures on goods and services as well as international trade will include the introduction of tax stamps on textiles, zero-rating Value Added Tax (VAT) on locally manufactured textiles for three years to make the local textile industry more competitive and attractive and granting of tax exemptions to 1D1F enterprises and electric vehicles.

To improve domestic revenue mobilization, the government plans to intensify tax compliance by simplifying tax payment, reforming Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to enhance its performance, carrying out distress actions and prosecuting offenders.

Government will expand the tax base of the country by deploying Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) officers to assist GRA officers in revenue mobilization, deepening digitization and encouraging all Ghanaians to register for a Tax Identification Number (TIN) without which one cannot undertake a number of transactions in the country. Businesses must ensure their systems are properly updated to include the TIN of people they deal with.

Members of the Chamber were further educated on the TIN and the annual tax requirements to enable them to be compliant to tax regulations in the country in order to avoid the penalties and reputational damages they could face for defaulting their tax payment which could negatively affect their businesses.

Members also asked questions concerning the possible consequences the economy will face should the minister of finance exceed the 5% deficit, the complexity of expanding the tax base in the country, the need for the TIN and file numbers, relevance of money paid by informal sector businesses to government agencies and the availability of training programmes to educate members on how to file individual returns.

Mr. Joe Mensah during his concluding remarks acknowledged that the presentation was very insightful and thanked PwC for their support for the Chamber over the years. He noted that 2019 will be a great year for the Chamber and urged members of the Chamber to support each other to help drive American companies forward and fight corruption in the country.

Documents 

1. 2018 Tax Facts and Figures document and 
https://www.pwc.com/gh/en/assets/pdf/2018-tax-facts-and-figures-gh.pdf
 
2. 2019 Budget Highlights document 
https://www.pwc.com/gh/en/assets/pdf/2019-budget-highlights.pdf

 

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AmCham Ghana Joins USAID for Trade Africa Learning Event

Wednesday, October 24, 2018. The American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana led by the Executive Secretary, Mr. Simon Madjie joined U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for their Trade Africa Learning Event held in Accra, Ghana.

The event was under the theme, ‘Enhancing Ghana’s Trade Competitiveness: Lessons from the Trade Africa Partnership.’ The Trade Africa Learning event brought together Government of Ghana officials and other partners to share some achievements attained over the years and the opportunities available for Ghana to boost exports of Ghanaian products, and diversify its export base to high-value markets.

Since 2016, the “Trade Africa” initiative has provided $10 million to support the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement, improve phytosanitary standards, help Ghana overcome technical barriers to trade, and support policies that promote regional trade and investment.

AmCham Ghana has been a beneficiary of the USAID led initiative. The Chamber was assisted to improve on its communication and to effectively strengthen our advocacy capacity through regular engagement with top Government officials, policy makers and other stakeholders.

The Chamber’s Executive Secretary in his remarks acknowledged the assistance provided by USAID in organizing events during the period of engagement.  He stated that notable among them was the engagement with Her Ladyship, Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo. An event which brought together the custodians of the country’s laws and the business community under one roof to dialogue and find mutual grounds where law will aid business and vise versa.

The Trade Africa initiative has achieved several successes during its two year period. These include the support provided to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture vegetable export task force to improve quality standards in order to restore access by Ghanaian vegetable exporters to the European Union. This reduced the number of shipments intercepted by EU authorities drastically.

The figures dropped from 330 interceptions in 2014 to four (4) in 2017.

The event was attended by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah, Commissioner for the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Mr. Isaac Crentsil, the USAID/Ghana Acting Mission Director, Steven E. Hendrix and other key personalities.

USAID/Ghana Acting Mission Director, Steven E. Hendrix in his remarks said, “The U.S. government is proud to support the government through increased exports of Ghanaian goods and businesses to the world markets.”

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