The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has attributed the surge in prices of some goods on the local market in recent times to a spike in freight charges by vessels docking at Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA).
According to the Association, “In some cases, freight has tripled just in recent times and that is not good for industries and consumers”.
Seth Twum Akwaboah, Chief Executive of the Association, disclosed this to George Wiafe on PM Express Business Edition, which looked at the ‘State of Industries in Ghana today Amid’.
Mr Akwaboah argued that most of the shipping lines are attributing this to limited supply of goods due to how Covid-19 has had on their operations, a development that led to freight charges going up and has impacted on the general on some of the goods in the country currently.
The Chief Executive of the Association of Ghana Industries, Mr Twum Akwaboah, also noted that this challenge has been compounded by the reduction on the benchmark values, which has made some imports cheap, a move which has made most local manufacturing firms uncompetitive.
Economic recovery and industries
Mr. Akwaboah noted that indeed the much talked about economic recovery has impacted positively on the industry.
“From all indications, we have seen that industries picking up because the Ghanaian economy is opening as well other economies outside the country”.
The construction industry has seen some huge spike, over the past months.
He however noted that the same cannot be said for all the sectors, like the hospitality , beverage, food and the textiles industries.
This is because demand by businesses in these sectors are yet to pick up a move that is affecting these firms badly.
Industry on economy and mid-year review of estimates
On half-year performance, Mr Akwaboah says it has been a little bit better compared to the same period for last year, and he is hopeful of things picking up strong in the coming months.
On the Mid-Year Review of estimates, Mr Akwaboah noted that they wanted the finance minister to be moderate with his review because of the uncertainties ahead of us because Covid-19 is yet to be fully contained, despite the deployment of vaccines.
He added is there is an opportunity to review some of the taxes going forward to help reduce the burden on businesses and industries when he reviews the estimates.
Mr Akwaboah also believed that the time has come to review this policy where industries are paying more than domestic consumers when it comes to energy consumption.
“We think that the time has come for this should be a review, and the Mid-Year review should present an opportunity to review this.”
“ I appreciate the initiatives that government have come up with, but we still need to do when it comes to reviewing the policy environment”, he added.
Industries and the Ghana cedi’s stability
The Chief Executive of the Association of Ghana industries noted that what industries want is predictable exchange rates, therefore, everything must be done by Bank of Ghana to ensure that things doesn’t escalate.
The Ghana cedi has witnessed some sustained blips over the past by two weeks.
Mr Akwaboah, however, added that he does not think that there should be any need for businesses to panic over the current development.
Source: Joy Business
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