Our busines is suffering – Mukesh Thakwani

A businessman man in the steel manufacturing industry in Ghana, Mukesh Thakwani, has lamented about the continuous economic strain that the continuous depreciation of the Ghana cedi against other major foreign currencies is having on trade. In the last few weeks, the Ghana cedi has continued on a free fall, losing value twice within one of the days to sell at GH¢14.50 to the US dollar. This translated into a 5.45% depreciation that day, and 17.5% in four days of the week in perspective. This, Mukesh Thakwani, who is the Chief Executive Officer of B5 Plus Limited, said is seriously affecting businesses in the country especially the manufacturing sector. “We are currently in difficult times and we have no option than to sell through the difficult times. We have to keep a very good watch into the local market to see what is happening as the currency depreciation is a very big challenge for all of us, especially those in the manufacturing sector. I think there are challenging times and we are trying to see how best we can sell out in these times,” he said, a report by kyfilla.com has stated. He added that Ghana is the right country in Africa to do business but it cannot understate that the sudden underwhelming performance of the Ghana cedi is preventing investors from bringing their businesses to the country. “Ghana is a great place to do business and we are very optimistic about it. Yes, we are going through a lot of challenging times, but I’m sure that with time, government will be able to solve the current exchange issues and we will be moving forward positively. So, we believe in Ghana and we are sure that we will be able to come out of it and come as better Ghana,” he added. Meanwhile, as part of moves to stabilize the depreciating Ghana cedi against major foreign currencies, the Bank of Ghana on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, held a meeting with the Managing Directors of banks and some forex bureaus in Accra. The meeting was also part of efforts by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to halt the trend of overpricing currently taking place in Accra.