Ghana's Ports Will Soon Be Paperless - Prez

By Maxwell Ofori

Effective September 1, this year, clearance of goods from Ghana's ports will be 100% paperless, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.

According to him, all internal custom barriers in the country will also be removed to facilitate the movement of goods.

President Akufo-Addo, who was speaking at the opening of the 2017 World Bank Development Finance Forum in Accra yesterday, also said in furtherance of the policy to boost growth, his administration had re-oriented fiscal policy from a focus on taxation to production.

"As part of the process of formalising the economy, we will implement a digital property addressing system for Ghana this year and also issue biometric National Identification cards to residents this year, so that every resident will have a unique identification number.

"My Government has also moved quickly to address the energy supply constraints, by tackling the financial challenges of the sector, as well as defining a policy framework that would encourage private sector investment.

"We will very soon issue a $2.5 billion energy sector bond to retire the legacy debt of the energy sector, and create space for increased investment in the sector," he said.

The World Bank Group and the Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) yesterday launched the two-day forum, bringing together public and private sector leaders from around the world to explore innovative approaches to radically increase private sector investment in Africa's priority sectors.

President Akufo-Addo told the more than 300 participants about the steps the country had taken to boost private investment to create jobs and raise standards of living for all by transforming the fundamentals of Ghana's economy.

The President's remarks came at the third annual development finance forum-an event that brings together the public and private sectors to discuss ideas, initiatives and partnerships that can help unlock the potential of the world's poorest country.

The forum, co-hosted by ACET- a Ghanaian think tank focused on addressing the policy and institutional barriers that hamper sustained economic growth in Africa.

It also aims to identify constraints to developing a vibrant private sector and opportunities for attracting investments that can make a positive impact on people's lives

World Bank Group Managing Director and CFO, Joaquim Levy, said "large sums of capital in the developed world are seeking higher returns yet only a small fraction of it is channelled to meet the major demand for investment in the least-developed countries."

He noted that by blending public and private resources to de-risk investment, World Bank Group initiatives can help broaden the private sector's ability to invest in these (poor) countries, creating markets and making them sustainable afterward.

The forum aims to contribute to the development of a pipeline of projects and programs by offering a pre-investment platform for the public and private sectors to explore market-building alliances and opportunities.

This year's event focuses on critical sectors for Africa, including infrastructure, agribusiness, manufacturing, and technology.

"We are delighted to organize this year's development finance forum in Ghana," said Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Group Vice President of Development Finance.

"We believe strongly that there are excellent investment opportunities to be undertaken together with the private sector to advance the development agenda.

"We are eager to work with the African and International private sector. Equally important is our partnership with governments to ensure that the business climate encourages investments that create jobs and opportunities for the people of Ghana and beyond," he remarked.

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