Investors seeking to do business in Ghana should be saved the hassle in registering their operations with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), effective next year.
It will follow the creation of a one stop online platform to cater for such processes.
The Principal Investment Promotion Officer at the GIPC, Frances Koba Kyeama disclosed the new plan to Citi Business News.
As a result, the GIPC is currently engaging other agencies such as the Registrar General’s Department and the GRA to ensure a smooth take off of the program.
“We’ve been working on this process for a very long time and we are looking at having a one stop shop and we are obviously talking to other agencies involved in this activity because it is obviously not just GIPC and we all need to agree on what is being done. So it is something that is going to happen next year, I might have said the first quarter of next year but that might not be the case but it is obviously going to happen,” she explained.
The exercise also forms part of efforts to improve Ghana’s position in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking.
The country placed 120th in the 2017 ranking; which represents a drop of some 12 points compared to the 108th position recorded in 2016.
Already, policy think tank, IMANI Africa has criticised some existing online platforms over systems breakdowns which frustrates businesses.
In IMANI’s view, the constraints should be rectified so as restore confidence and improve the business operating environment in Ghana.
Reacting to this however, Madam Frances Koba Kyeama was confident the new platform will rectify the teething issues with existing platforms to reduce the turnaround time for business registration.
“This time around it is going to be a virtual one so we will not be having the individual sitting there; everything’s going to be online. So we are hoping that once everybody comes on board, this thing will become very effective. But it is a well known fact that everything is going to be dependent on the internet system and that is not controlled by the GIPC so that is what we are looking at currently,” she added.
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