Africa can develop if it leverages on its resources – Eastern Regional Minister

Mr Eric Kwakye Darfour, the Eastern Regional Minister, has said there is the need to utilize the resources of Africa by adopting sustainable and meaningful innovations.

He said there are abundant resources in the country, forest, land, minerals and agricultural produce but there is the need to go further and add value to these raw resources.

Mr Darfour was speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) Eastern, Volta and Oti regions branch at Ho in the Volta Region.

The meeting was held under the theme: ''Repositioning the triad Regions, Eastern, Volta and Oti for the Africa Continental Free Trade Area: Challenges, Opportunities and Recommendations''.

Mr Darfour urged industrialists to drive the development of the country as they create the needed wealth for government to tax and generate revenue for building the country.

He said taxes are vital for the development of a country adding that for instance in Japan, if one make a profit of about $100.00, the tax paid to their government is $54.00,while in Great Britain 40 per cent of the similar amount goes to the tax collectors.

He said in many of the European countries, the profit tax is around 37 to 40 per cent, while in Ghana the profit tax is around 25 per cent but even with that, its just a few people who are taxed.

The Regional Minister said that is why the government is making efforts to empower industries to grow, as by this, it would also rake in more revenue through taxes.

Mr Dela Gadzanku, the Regional Chairman of the Eastern, Volta and Oti branch of the AGI, said the selection of Ghana as the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) secretariat comes as a great news to all industry players and it could be a game changer if industry players position themselves well to benefit from the numerous prospects that come with it.

He called on government to pay a closer look at the three regions by providing new as well as improving on existing infrastructure so that they can also benefit from its business related programmes.

Mr Gadzanku called on both foreign and local investors to explore ways to increase collaboration and partnerships to take advantage of the numerous opportunities available in these three regions.