The chamber said the free zones offer was very attractive and was open, not only to foreign companies but Ghanaians as well.

Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso I, President of the GNCCI, who led a delegation of GNCCI members on a tour of the Free Zones Enclave in Tema on Wednesday, said there are various advantages in being a free zones company as well as in locating companies within the free zones enclave, as it facilitated increased networking and interdependence among companies.

“Your waste can be another company’s raw material,” he noted, adding “it is good to be part of it”. Nana Dankawoso I, said most members of Chamber were not aware that they qualify to operate as free zones companies, per their current operations, thus the visit was to afford them the opportunity to learn how they can benefit under the free zones programme.

He stressed the importance of exports, saying, it helped the country to get foreign exchange, which relieved the pressure on the local currency, thus the existence of institutions and programmes like the free zones authority, the Ghana Export Import Bank and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, which work together to improve exports.

“From here, we can form partnerships, if we are small, so that we can come out with good business plans and get support,” he said. Mrs. Patience Agbleze Acorlor, Head, Tema Administrative Office of the Ghana Free Zones Authority, said Ghanaian companies could register to enjoy the benefits in the free zones, as manufacturers, developers or commercial companies, provided that they exported at least 70 per cent of their products or services.

She explained that companies did not need to have a specific minimum capital to register as a free zones company, but rather they should have business plans that would enable them to meet the 70 per cent export requirement.

She stressed however that it was important for entities wanting to operate as free zones companies to have done due diligence and other feasibility studies to ensure that they are able to meet the 70 per cent export requirements for free zones companies, failure of which will lead to a company being delisted.

“…we expect that before you come into the zones programme, you would have done your feasibility studies, know what you are in for because once you come in, we are expecting you to export the 70 per cent from the day you start production…you have to be ready before you come in,” she stated.

The team also visited two companies located in the Free Zones enclave; Agility, a non-free company and Anowah Afrique, a free zones company.  Mrs. Acorlor said companies that did not qualify to operate as free zones companies could explore indirect opportunities to provide some products or services for free zones companies such as packaging, cleaning services, and logistics, among others, that could help it to also grow.

“That is why we set up the free zones. We expected that when we bring in one company, at least we will have five or six local companies that are supplying to that company but sometimes, unfortunately, we can’t meet the quantity or the quality that they are requesting for so they end up importing all those things,” she said.

Free Zones companies enjoy monetary incentives including 100 per cent exemption from payment of direct and indirect duties and levies on all imports for production and exports from free zones, 100 per cent exemption from payment of income tax on profits for ten years, and which will not exceed 15 per cent thereafter and total exemption from payment of withholding taxes from dividends arising from free zones investments.

Other incentives are: relief from double taxation for foreign investors and employees where Ghana has a double taxation agreement with their countries of origin, no import licensing requirements, 100 per cent ownership of shares by the investor-foreign or national- in a free zone enterprise is allowed and a guarantee against nationalization and expropriation, among others.