They entreated the Government to strengthen the local banks and avoid being swallowed by the foreign ones.

They stated that the number of banks operating in the country were too many for a population of about 26 million.

They said the Central Bank should rather focus on helping the financial institutions to grow instead of licensing new ones and that the undue delay in announcing the minimum capital requirement was unhelpful.

They expressed delight that some regulatory reforms were ongoing, which was expected to transform the way we do business.They called for more collaboration among indigenous business men and women to achieve the set objectives.They expressed these in a communique issued on their behalf by Mr Joe Jackson, the Director of Operations of Dalex Finance, in Accra, on Tuesday.

They said the banks must assess each individual and the interest rate and not apply generic method in assessing rate, especially applying the general non-performing loans standard to everybody else.

They said as much as the Government was keen on maintaining a stable macroe-conomic environment, economic growth should not be sacrificed to achieve that feat.It said: “Planting for Food and Jobs” initiative must be meticulously implemented in order to reap the whole benefits.

The participants called for cheap credits at the agriculture sector and that more incentives needed in the agricultural sector to attract investment.The communique said supporting the private sector to provide affordable solution to farmers was crucial in this regard.Moreover, a lot more needed to be done by the Government and all other stakeholders to ensure all-inclusive economy.

“Macro insurance can be a tool for financial inclusion and that insurance and pensions could play a key role in mobilising funds for long term development and that insurance companies need to do a lot more to design products that target the untapped informal sector,” it noted.

It said acquiring technology and innovation was key to improving the quality of life and that Africa was far behind the application of technologies in the various facets of businesses.

”Using e-business is an integral part for growth. “Working a lot more with local innovators so that we can rescale and that innovation is going to be the capital for Africa’s future,” it said. It said making the most productive use of the energy resources in the country’s drive for accelerated socio-economic development was critical.

“Implementation is critical addition to drawing a strategic business plan for the energy sector and that government should encourage the public to see supply of electricity as a commodity and not as a social benefit and the utilities should explore cost effective ways of collecting their revenue,” it said. The participants expressed optimism that the efforts by the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, which was aggressively soliciting funds to drive the technology agenda would yield positive results in the not distance future.

Some topics discussed by various business and economic gurus, policy-makers and think tanks included Maintaining Stable Macro-economic Environment for Sustained and Inclusive Development, Winning a lot more synergy between the Entrepreneurs and Mobile Operators, Building Stronger Banks for a Stronger Economy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation and How Ghanaian businesses could take advantage of the  stable Macroeconomic Environment to make gains. The two-day event is on the theme: “Building a Ghanaian Owned Economy, 60 Years After Independence,” organised by the Business and Financial Times and partnered by some major media organisations in the country including the Ghana News Agency.