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The Ghana Employers Association (GEA) has called on the government to address the high cost of internet fees to boost the growth of local businesses and enhance economic development.
Mr. Daniel Acheampong, President of GEA, said that the high cost of the Internet, coupled with low access to information and communication technology (ICT) tools, were a major discouragement for companies who would want to take advantage of technology to boost productivity amid COVID-19. pandemic.
He said that despite the fact that the country’s economy had made significant progress despite the pandemic, the high cost of the internet remained a challenge for businesses and the country at large to ensure a full recovery from economic crises.
Mr Acheampong said this at the Association’s 60th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Accra on the theme: “Revitalizing Ghana’s economy after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He said that 58 percent of respondents, in recent research by the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), indicated that the price of Internet in Ghana was among the highest on the African continent.
“This represents a significant barrier for Ghana to leverage the Internet and ICTs to recover from the disruptions of the pandemic,” he said.
Acheampong said that the government should therefore prioritize the development of the country’s ICT infrastructure to provide high-speed Internet access at competitive prices to businesses, workers and citizens, regardless of their location, to boost productivity.
However, he praised the government for implementing a series of economic and social policies that, he said, had placed the country on a solid foundation towards macroeconomic management, economic growth and job creation, before the outbreak of COVID-19.
He said implementation of those policies would put the economy on the path of sustained growth and lead it towards realizing the “Ghana Beyond Aid” agenda.
Ghana’s economic growth rate over the past two decades averages between five and six percent.
In 2019, the country achieved an improved growth rate of 6.8 percent, one of the highest rates for any country in sub-Saharan Africa at that time.
The 2020 Budget Statement revealed that Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product growth may decline from 6.8 percent to 2.6 percent by the end of 2020.
Mr. Acheampong, while pledging the Association’s continued support to ensure full recovery from the pandemic, urged the government to ensure the effective implementation of the comprehensive economic recovery plan that it had outlined, involving all key stakeholders.
Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, said that the country was on track to recover from the economic shocks due to the pandemic, as the numerous government interventions had started to pay off.
He said data from the Ghana Statistics Service (GSS) for the second quarter of 2020 indicated that the impact of COVID-19 on growth had been less severe than anticipated.
GSS data showed that real GDP was 3.2% in the second quarter of 2020 compared to growth of 5.7% for the corresponding period in 2019.
Mr. Ofori-Atta encouraged the private sector to take advantage of the many initiatives the government was implementing to boost productivity.
Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Minister of Employment and Labor Relations (MELR), said the government had recognized the concerns of workers and employers and would address them with the measures that are being implemented.
He commended the GEA for its great support for the government’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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