Access to affordable credit should be focal point of all governments – Dr Obeng

President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association of Ghana (GUTA), Dr Joseph Obeng, has said access to affordable credit is what businesses need, therefore, all political parties must treat this need with urgency.

According to him, business moguls are fraught with monetary challenges now as it’s difficult to access credit from abroad after the outbreak of the coronavirus.

He furthered that government must make the acquisition of capital affordable for traders as well as reduce the base rate for traders to witness a boost in their businesses.

Making this known in an interview with GhanaWeb, Dr Obeng said “If you ask GUTA three things they want, we’ll say access to affordable credit, affordable credit and affordable credit. These are the only thing that any business person wants in this time of our lives especially when we are finding it difficult to access credit from abroad after the COVID-19. First, we used to get credit from our suppliers and all that but it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to get. We have to look from within and get these credits”.

Dr Obeng noted that a when a lasting solution is found for this problem, Ghanaian goods would be competitive during the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) as the country wouldn’t be at the losing end.

"Now, we are entering into African Free Trade, we will only become relevant when our goods are competitive to match up with other African countries otherwise it is useless. How can we achieve this? We can only achieve this when the capital acquisition is affordable, when the cost of capital is cheap and, in this case, we have to think about the reduction of our absolute base rate, make sure we are able to match up with others," Dr Obeng added.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade area which is interested in accelerating intra-African trade and boosting Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations.

Ghana serves as the Secretariat of AFCFTA and was commissioned and handed over to the AU by the President of Ghana His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on August 18, 2020.