Create credible regulatory framework, To support the growth of businesses

Story: Boahene Asamoah & Precious Koranteng-Agyei

AN Advisor to the Tanzania President, Dr Ken Kwaku, has called for a transparent and non-discretionary regulatory framework to support the development of African economies.
He said such regulations would create equal opportunities and ensure an enabling environment for businesses to grow and expand.
In an interview, Dr Kwaku emphasised the need for support for small-and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) on the continent to enable them to grow, since they were the pillar of every economy.
Dr Kwaku is one of the personalities attending the African Consultative Conference, which is on the theme, “Creating better business environments for enterprise development: African and Global Lessons for More Effective Donor Practices.”
He said regulations were key to economic development and stressed that in most cases, there had been too many regulations which were inconsistent with the development agenda and therefore did not encourage investments.
“The fewer regulations existed in developing countries, the higher the private sector rose above the challenges and limitations in the sector,” Dr Kwaku said.
According to him, evidence abounded in Africa which suggested that the continent lacked the regulatory framework necessary to empower businesses and create an enabling environment for them.
In some cases where such regulatory framework existed, they were not clear and needed reforms to attract the necessary investments, he added.
“Regulations must be transparent, clear and accessible,” Dr Kwaku stressed and cautioned that African countries “should not do for foreign investors what they would not do for local investors. There must be a level playing field for all.”
Dr Kwaku stated that there must also be a conscious effort by African governments to translate investment opportunities and regulations into local dialects for the indigenous people to understand.
He also called for the need to equip local investors with the requisite knowledge, explaining that education was not equivalent to knowledge.
The Presidential Advisor stated that knowledge was key if African economies were to make progress and emphasised the empowering of people with the necessary knowledge to enable them to be creative.
The Private Sector Development, in collaboration with the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development, a network of 20 bi-and multilateral development, organised the conference to engage all stakeholders in discussions on the economic pursuit of an enabling business environment to achieve accelerated growth and development.