This came to light during a roundtable meeting of about ten Private Sector stakeholders in Accra as a follow-up to the Ghana Compact's Private Sector technical consultation.

Speaking to BusinessGhana, Prof. John Asafu-Adjaye, Senior Fellow, African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) emphasized the need for all associations to join an umbrella group. He called for a regulation that made it a mandatory requirement for new businesses to be   members of an association that is under the umbrella group before they  could be registered.
He said that this would help the government to collect taxes and also help the association to assist its members.

Prof Asafu-Adjaye also said that the stakeholders had identified that the potential of the Pension Fund (Tier Three) could be used to support the private sector to enable it to grow and subsequently create employment. He said that though the private sector had been considered an investment risk, it had the potential for high returns. The stakeholders, he noted, were ready to dialogue with the government to address issues regarding revenue collection under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

Mr Tsonam C. Akpeloo, Chairman of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI)- Greater Accra Region said that the meeting aimed to consider ways through which the private sector in Ghana could be strengthened to ensure that the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana  benefited. He noted that all the various associations faced similar issues hence the need for collaboration.

"Government cannot be dealing with many associations and chambers, it gets difficult, but because there is strength in unity it is important that we all come together," he said.

Mr. Akpeloo added that the AGI, which had about over 24 sectors under it, had developed the capacity to help many SMEs become stronger to champion the voice of the private sector. He also said that issues such as increases in taxes, among others made it difficult for industries in the private sector to operate. He called for incentives for the private sector to produce sanitary pads locally, at cheaper rates. He said that giving incentives to foreign producers of sanitary pads would lead to a collapse of local businesses and loss of jobs.

The Ghana Compact identified Ghana's competitiveness as a destination for private capital to drive industrialization, however certain key challenges reflected in inefficiencies and weaknesses in business development.  These challenges included a lack of access to, and high cost of finance, weak legal and regulatory regimes, the poor state of infrastructure, currency instability, and lack of access to business development. The report identified the reluctance of banks to lend to SMEs because they were considered high-risk businesses.

The Ghana  Compact, however, proposed certain solutions that would help address the challenges; these were de-risking the private sector to drive the needed financing, for example, the setting up of credit  bureaux, development of innovative financing, and the implementation of reforms in the government-backed fund Venture Capital Trust Fund.
It also suggested that the government harmonized private sector development regimes to align interventions and draw inherent synergies from key actors as well as the development of long-term plans that would ensure consistent and strategic investment into major infrastructures to facilitate ease of doing business.

The report urged the introduction of simpler tariff systems to facilitate the growth of SMEs. It also called for support for young entrepreneurs by providing unbridled access to Business Development Services and Capacity Development.

The  Compact further noted that for it to be successful there was the need for collaboration from all the stakeholders such as the Government, Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), and the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI).