Editorial: Implement waiver on agro-processing machinery now, stakeholders demand

The Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana is challenging government to walk its talk regarding waiving duty on agro-processing machinery.

While commending Deputy Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry Sampson Ahi’s announcement, the Chamber warned that “the true measure of success will lie in its timely and effective implementation”.

Sampson Ahi made the announcement at a Regional Agribusiness Dialogue in Sunyani. In a strongly worded statement released last week, the Chamber laid out a four-point non-negotiable plan for implementing the waiver.

Firstly, the Chamber welcomed the ministry’s realignment to include ‘Agribusiness’ as a symbolic first step.

It therefore urged government to expedite the tax waiver’s implementation, demanding that government publishes a clear timeline and statutory instrument to give immediate legal impetus to the tax relief.

Additionally, the chamber is calling on government to, beyond the waiver, allocate sufficient funds and technical support to local manufacturers like the GRATIS Foundation.

This is critical to ensuring the medium-term strategy of building local capacity for manufacture of machinery, cutting the import bill and ensuring that local manufacturers do not fold up due to lack of resources.

The chamber also urged government to incorporate the “specific and practical inputs” of farmers and processors from all regions to ensure the policy is grounded in reality.

Lending a voice to the national fight against galamsey, the chamber declared that ending illegal mining “should be among the top priorities” in any policy that seeks to revive agribusiness.

It will be recalled that President John Dramani Mahama announced the policy at the inaugural National Agribusiness Dialogue in July this year, where he indicated that the waiver aims to lower production costs and accelerate private investment in agro-processing.

“This will enhance efficiency, improve technology uptake and stimulate private sector investment.”

Sector sources indicate that the waiver will apply to a range of equipment including tractors, harvesters, planters, irrigation systems and other agro-processing machinery, though details on implementation timelines and eligibility criteria are yet to be confirmed.

The Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen (GNAFF) welcomed the decision, describing it as “bold and progressive”.

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