The United States Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer, has emphasized that improving Ghana’s business environment is essential both for local enterprises and for attracting increased American investment.
In an interview on Channel One TV’s The Point of View, Ambassador Palmer praised recent policy signals from President John Dramani Mahama, particularly his commitment to making business climate reform a top national priority.“Improvement to the business climate in general helps Ghanaian exporters, Ghanaian companies that are here and help encourage US investment in Ghana, and I have been talking with the government of Ghana about that my entire tenure, and I am very pleased to see President Mahama make that his number one priority, I think.
“He talked [about it] in his inaugural address about improving the business climate as being essential to Ghana’s economic recovery,” she said.
Ambassador Palmer highlighted specific areas needing attention, including reforms at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), improved access to credit, contract enforcement, and clearing of government arrears.
She stressed these are key barriers that must be addressed for Ghana to remain competitive in attracting international investors.
“So there are some things that can happen with the GRA, with access to credit, with a number of things like contracts signed and payment of government arrears. It will help make this much more attractive to invest for American companies and Ghanaian companies, and I will also say that if Ghanaian small companies are paid on time, they will strive, and if they are not paid on time, they won’t survive,” Ambassador Palmer said.
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