As part of a concerted attempt to lower the country's increasing unemployment rate, the government has been encouraged to consider granting some 'juicy' tax credits to firms that employ recent graduates from school.
Dr Sam Ankrah, a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Economists Ghana (ICEG), who made the appeal, also encouraged the government to explore increasing tax incentives for enterprises that establish up in the country's districts and rural regions to assist minimize the country's expanding rural-urban migration.
In an interview with Graphic Business ahead of today's Graphic Business-Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting, Dr. Ankrah made the announcement. "I understand that the rebates will have an impact on the government's overall domestic revenue, but this will be temporary, and we will recover because the firms that benefit from the rebates will scale up production, create more profit, and pay more taxes to balance things out."
"At the same time, we'll be dealing with a huge national issue," he explained.
Dr. Ankrah, who is also the President of the African Investment Group, believes the government should be more pragmatic in mandating that state agencies buy locally made items.
"Because it will generate a market for the firms who manufacture here," he explained. We shall remain where we are if we do not acquire the goods and services that we make."
"As the largest spender, the government should be more thoughtful so we can drastically lower our import cost and conserve our cedi," he added.
ICT education
Dr. Ankrah stated that there were many more chances in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) domain, and that a collaboration with the government to develop a pool of specialists, the majority of whom were unemployed youngsters with few options, would have a significant influence.