Ghana Is A Better Place For Business Than Nigeria | Business News

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An article in the respected pan African magazine, the African Business Magazine (ABM) has indicated that Ghana has an edge over Nigeria in terms of the ease of doing business.

The article also said Ghana “is fast becoming and investment destination of choice in Africa.”The article stated in part” “Ghana, on the other hand, seems to have strongly entrenched policies that enhance industrial growth, while good governance and prudent economic management have made the country the gateway to Africa. Apart from fast becoming an economic hub of the sub-region, Ghana also offers some of the best travel experience in Africa.

In fact, some Nigerians who cannot afford to spend their vacation in Europe or the US have found Ghana a suitable alternative. This brings good money to the Ghanaian economy. President Barack Obama’s visit to Ghana during his maiden trip to the continent this year also speaks volumes for the high regard that the international community has for the West African country.

He chose Ghana over and above Nigeria, the acclaimed giant to Africa and Kenya, his ancestral home, ostensibly because of that country’s stable political system. Nigerian parents are also enrolling their children in Ghanaian universities because of the stimulating learning environment, high-quality programme and stable academic calendar.
But Nigerians are not the only ones who are rushing to Ghana.

A top official of the Ghana High Commission in Lagos confirmed that the number of Asian investors, especially from China and Korea, who throng the High Commission daily in search of business information and visas to go to Ghana, are on the increase. The source said: ‘Koreans and Chinese businessmen have been coming to the Ghana High Commission to make enquiries about business in Ghana. The number keeps growing by the day’.”

The writer also gave examples of the problems one is likely to encounter in Nigeria: “In Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria, it could take a manufacturer up to 34 days to complete a total of nine procedures before he gets a permit, according to findings by Doing Business in Nigeria. Registering the property would take him 82 days, after 14 procedures; while getting a licence would take 350 days and 18 procedures. Ghana has an edge over Nigeria in terms of the ease of registering property, enforcing contracts and protecting investors, investigations have shown.

Before he gets the business off the ground, the Nigeria industrialist would have to provide his own alternative source of power, due to unreliable electricity supply in the country. Statistics obtained from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), shows that alternative electricity supply typically accounts for about 20% of local manufacturers’ total operational cost.

There is no serious business operator in Nigeria today, no matter how small, that does not own a generator set. ‘I-better-pass-my-neighbor’, which is the smallest size of generator set, sell for about N15,000 ($100). This is the type mostly used by the hairdresser and the business center operator. Even large companies are smarting from the effects of poor electricity supply. For instance, the corporate services executive of MTN Nigeria, Akinwale Goodluck, said the company spends over N500m (about $3m) monthly on the purchase of diesel to run its base stations for 24 hours. This comes to N6bn ($40m) annually.

The Nigerian industrialist must also construct a water borehole and pay various taxes to the federal, state and local governments, not forgetting the notorious ‘area boys’, who will demand their own ‘settlement’ fee. On the other hand, his counterpart in Ghana would simply apply by letter to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), which is solely responsible for the distribution of electricity within the country, for the facility. He would state the location of the company, a site plan of the area, total load required, production schedule, and number of shifts.”

Source: African Business Magazine/The Daily Dispatch

COMMENTS (20)

Records 1 to 10 of 20

Last

Macabe haifa

The Worst Place to live on Planet earth is Nigeria, Where a President stole our money that was suppose to improve the life of the common Nigeira (Power supply) and Nothing was done to him. His Stupid daugther follow his footh step, and Nothing was done. It is a crime to have Steady supply in Nigeria. it will never come to Pass, Never. The currupt Nigeria Old sit tight Govt official will fustrate all effort to better the life of the coomers. Do you think the generator and Diseal cartel are tired of makig profit. They have swear with their Life and Blood, never to make the Power sector steady, Never ever will Nigeria Be like South Africa, Bostwana or Ghana, They have fast Left us Behind. Look My frinds there will never be room for Improvement in Power sector i Nigeria, is Only a fool will say otherwise.

Date: 2009-11-23 14:07:09

Naa Adoley

Ghanains love to talk talk talk and talk some more. DO SOMETHING. Let us build us an economy 1/2 as strong as Nigeria's and then we can start comparing ourselves to them. We match them on certain fronts but economy is not one of them. When it comes to business, they are huge risk takers and very innovative. Ruthless almost.Look what they've done with their film industry. Let us stop doing the same old thing in Ghana and TRY NEW THINGS in business. In fact all across the board. Leave the Nigerians alone. Why do they make us so insecure? You cannot be rich,powerful and assertive by trying to please everybody which is exactly what Ghanaians are known for. We will do anything to maintain the status quo. We will never stand up to anything or anybody and yet we want to enjoy the rewards that comes with wrestling one's way through life. Let us get over our envy and stop trying to be Mr. GoodGuy. Mr. Perfect of Africa. That is Ghana for you. Sick of the Ghanaian mentality!

Date: 2009-11-16 04:55:37

obidi

The comparison is wrong. The writer of this article should educate herself well. You cannot compare an apple with an orange, You can only compare apple with apple. To compare Nigeria with Ghana is wrong, what the write should do is to compare Lagos state (economic capital) to Ghana. Nigeria as a nation has issues about its aging infrastructure and needs to do something about it.

Date: 2009-11-15 01:24:46

Anthony

stop talking like a kid wealther ghanian is good or nigeria what i see in this article is that he want the goverment of nigeria to do any thing the are doing fast befor water pass garri why nigerian cant have a stable eletricity i think i love to stay in ghana because the have eletricity and security

Date: 2009-11-11 18:53:47

Akpabio

Deejay, As the population and economy of a society increases so do the strain on the infrastructure. One only hope that the constant supply of electricity currently enjoyed in the whole Ghana (I ve never been to Ghana, but that is the gist of most Nigerian media) will be able to increase accordingly to accommodate such increase in economic activities and population. We should remember in the late 70s we have over capacity of Power (about 29 functional power stations), and some reasonable infrastructure. The capacity of our refineries in the 80s was much more than the demand, but as the economic activities increases, population growth and people become wealthier, there was strain on these facilities, couple with our bad maintenance culture contributed to the mess that we are in. Thus, I hope that Ghana will have the wisdom of building more power stations, roads, refineries, etc. as her population grows so as not to have a repeat of the calamity that has happen to her western neigbour.

Date: 2009-11-11 17:28:57

Deejay

Guys, I think most of you are missing the point. What the righter is talking about in this article is a ‘better ground’ for business as at today. And when you talk about better ground, you will have to factor in areas which will pose lesser challenges and produce maximum profit. We all know that population in Nigeria is over 150million and this may be 10times Ghana size (I am not sure) but I would like you to imagine 150million people in Ghana today with their current infrastructure? The profits will obviously double what these companies are making in Nigeria today (due to obvious reasons). If you all look from the business perspective, you will understand what the writer mean. Mind you I am a Nigerian but I love to analyse situations before jumping to conclusion. The simple truth is, anywhere in the world that has a constant power supply will grow in business.

Date: 2009-11-11 15:25:34

Tobi

I dont know why people keep comparing Nigeria to Ghana, for God's sake the population of Lagos is more than the whole of Ghana,Togo and Benin put together.The bulk of investments in the Ghanaian economy today is from Nigeria with almost 95% of them still maintaining their HQ's in Nigeria,the biggest banks,insurance companies,cinemas e.t.c in all west African countries today are from Nigeria. This shows the strenght of Nigeria in terms of economy and development. I beleive what the author of this piece is trying to discuss is the highly competitive nature of the Nigerian economy not ease of doing business. Take MTN for instance, their entry into the Nigerian market gave them the boom which led them to become the 11th largest mobile service provider in the world.

Date: 2009-11-11 14:19:56

eny

Ghana is just 12 states out of Nigerian 36 plus Abuja the capital. What we need to know is the basis for comparism. Nigeria is the best business ground in the world. Nigerians are extremely very accomodating, if you tidy up your business registerations etc with the appropriate government body, as a matter of fact you could remain in business in Nigeria as long as you wish. All the communication industries in Nigeria colud attest to this fact.

Date: 2009-11-11 08:43:00

Kofi

Ghana is worse this year than it was last year. Check IFC / World Bank report on Doing Business check the link below Doing Business In Ghana Peacefm Check and Report this too http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/?economyid=76

Date: 2009-11-10 20:11:55

Kwabena

Look guys, this story is not about whether Ghana is better than Nigeria or not.I don't want to get into that needless debate.What I know as a fact is that Ghana presents a better place for business than Nigeria. I don't expect any rational being to get into argument over this fact because it has been well documented in all published reports on doing business index.Ghana is rated as having the best business enviroment in West Africa.Anyone wanting to dispute this fact should go and do his research very well before offering a comment.Every single report by international groups,ranging from multilateral institutions to NGOs all confirm what I have just said.It is a well known fact and that was why I made my earlier comment, because I had expected the editor of peacefmonline to know that he/she was not telling the world anything new.I don't want to get into which country is better because it is unnecessary. You can manipulate all the facts and figures, but you cannot fault the judgment of the people who flock to where they can have a better life. And we all know where most people are heading to these days.

Date: 2009-11-10 19:22:54

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