Kwahu Business Forum: Minority Calls for Depoliticization of Local Enterprises
The Minority Caucus in Parliament has cautioned against the “tagging and targeting” of local entrepreneurs, arguing that the politicization of the private sector remains the single greatest threat to indigenous business survival.
Speaking on behalf of the Minority Leader, Osahen Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, at the second edition of the Kwahu Business Forum on Sunday, April 5, 2026, the Second Deputy Minority Whip, Honourable Jerry Ahmed Shaib, called for an immediate “depoliticization of enterprise” to ensure that Ghanaian companies can compete globally without the shadow of partisan interference.
The forum was held under the theme “Leaders Committing to Sustenance of Ghanaian Businesses.”
The Minority seized the moment to vent the frustrations of local industry players following weeks of structured engagements with the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), and the Ghana Employers’ Association.
The caution by the Minority’s presented a sobering picture of an economy where indigenous businesses are increasingly squeezed by high capital costs, a cumulative tax burden, and a lack of genuine government consultation.
The Peril of Partisan Labels in Business
Honourable Jerry Ahmed Shaib emphasized that for Ghana to achieve true economic independence, the success of a business must be decoupled from whichever political regime is in power. He noted that when local enterprises are tagged with political labels, it creates a fractured ecosystem that ultimately benefits foreign competitors at the expense of Ghanaian owners.
“We have a responsibility to depoliticize entrepreneurship, to create an ecosystem where business owners can operate without fear of being tagged or targeted,” Shaib stated during the roundtable.
“When we politicize local enterprise, we create an uneven playing field that stifles innovation and discourages risk-taking.
The success of a business should never depend on which political regime is in power, nor should it be stifled by partisan labels.”
A “Policy Mismatch” in the Financial Sector
The Minority’s address highlighted a significant disconnect between the government’s rhetoric on entrepreneurship and the reality of the credit market.
Despite a headline lending rate of 10.70%, the Minority pointed out that actual rates for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) remain prohibitively high when fees and risk margins are added.
This lack of affordable, “patient” capital is cited as the primary reason why up to 80 percent of small businesses in Ghana fail within their first five years.
”A headline lending rate of 10.70% means nothing to an industrialist who cannot meet the collateral threshold to access it, or who is offered a two-year facility for an investment that requires ten,” Shaib argued.
He called on the financial sector to move beyond traditional collateral-heavy models and develop products specifically tailored to the long-term investment cycles of manufacturing and agro-processing firms.
Taxation and the “Consultation Deficit”
Critiquing the current fiscal regime, the Minority highlighted the overlapping nature of taxes such as Import VAT, excise duties, NHIL, and the GETFund Levy, which they claim are often paid simultaneously on the same transactions.
The Caucus further criticized the recent deployment of the “Publican Trade Solution”—an AI-driven assessment system at the ports—which they claim has led to inflated duties without a functioning appeals mechanism.
The Minority took particular issue with what they described as a “consultation deficit,” where policy is announced first and industry is “invited to a meeting afterwards” as a mere formality.
“Effective pre-legislative consultation is a structural requirement of sound economic governance, and its persistent absence is not a minor procedural failing,” the Minority whip noted, adding that this failure results in factories running below capacity and lost investment opportunities.
A Legislative Roadmap for Business Sustenance
To move beyond dialogue, the Minority Caucus committed to a series of parliamentary actions aimed at providing businesses with a more predictable operating environment.
Chief among these is a push for a statutory pre-legislative consultation framework that would legally mandate the government to engage stakeholders before introducing major economic bills or new taxes.
The Caucus also pledged to table formal motions for an independent review of utility tariff structures and to demand full parliamentary scrutiny of the AI-driven customs systems.
“We in the Minority, though not in government, are actively seeking to push an agenda that strengthens Ghana’s economic foundations. Businesses need policy stability to plan ahead. They need a legislative framework that is clear and predictable,” Shaib concluded.
The 2026 Kwahu Business Forum: A Hub for Industrial Policy
The 2026 Kwahu Business Forum, which commenced on April 3, has solidified its position as a critical node for public-private dialogue in Ghana.
By bringing together industrialists, development partners, and the nation’s highest political leadership, the forum aims to bridge the gap between policy intent and business reality.
This year’s event was notably attended by high-ranking officials including the Chief of Staff, Mr. Julius Debrah, and various sector ministers, reflecting the high stakes of the discussions regarding the nation’s 2026 economic trajectory.
As the forum concluded, the Minority urged the financial sector to become “genuine engines of indigenous enterprise” and called on entrepreneurs to “invest boldly,” promising that the Caucus would continue to advocate for a regime where merit and hard work—rather than political affiliation dictate the success of Ghanaian businesses.
Source: Felix NYAABA/expressnewsghana.com
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