The meeting, which took place at the Shippers’ House, was organised in line with the Chamber’s Constitution which enjoins it to take stock of its activities. The 41st AGM was on the Chamber’s financial reports for the 2015 and 2016 financial years.

Nana Dr. Appiagyei Dankawoso I, the President of the GNCCI, said the Chamber had demonstrated its commitment to the growth of the private sector since the colonial era.

He expressed worry that though the Chamber had worked with successive governments in promoting and protecting the commercial and industrial interest of the private sector, the sector was gripped with some challenges due to the worsening nature of Ghana’s economy.

“The Ghanaian economy has been worsening owing to a number of economic and structural challenges,” he said.Nana Dankawoso said the high cost of borrowing was affecting the competitiveness of businesses in the country.He said the high volatility of the cedi in the foreign exchange market was an acute problem for the growth of businesses, adding; “this has made it extremely difficult for businesses to undertake medium to long term planning”.

“It is instructive for Government to collaborate with the private sector to address Ghana’s structural problem of over-reliance on the export of low value added to primary products and the excessive importation of goods due to low domestic production” he stated.  Nana Dankawoso, however, said the Chamber had taken up a number of advocacies and programmes to enable the businesses to be competitive and innovative, including actions taken in 2016 to improve efficiency and reduce challenges of doing business at the ports.

In line with this, he said, the Chamber would hold a conference scheduled for August 2017 in Accra to device strategies to curb the problems. Nana Dankawoso said the Chamber had facilitated business-to-business meeting and investments for delegations around the world to create needful opportunities for members.

He said: “The Chamber fully supports government’s initiative of establishing at least one factory in each district through the ‘One District, One Factory’ initiative. Nana Osei Bonsu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Private Enterprises Federation (PEF), commended the Chamber for its contributions to private sector growth, including its pioneering role in the establishment of PEF.

He pledged PEF’s commitment to building the capacities of GNCCI members as well as others under the Ghana Institutional Support Project supported by the AfDB. Mr Nicolas J. Gebera, the Fund Manager of the BUSAC Fund, said the fund recognised the GNCCI as a key in promoting private sector growth and encouraged it to continue working through advocacy to create a more conducive business climate for the private sector.

The Ghana Chamber of Mines, Association of Ghana Industries and Ghana Employers Association also delivered solidarity messages, commending the Chamber for its enormous contribution to the growth of the private sector. They highlighted the need for synergies between business associations and the need to re-evaluate Ghana’s trade policies to favour production by local industries.

The AGM was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Trade and industry, members of the GNCCI, the diplomatic corps, representatives from various business organisations and the media.