By Celestine Avi and Seth Eyiah
President John Mahama has called for urgent reforms to Ghana’s business regulatory environment, warning that excessive bureaucracy and overlapping administrative processes risk slowing down productivity and undermining investment growth.
Speaking at the Ghana CEO Summit marking its 10th anniversary in Accra, the President said Ghana’s economic transformation agenda cannot succeed if businesses continue to face delays, unclear procedures, and multiple layers of approval within state institutions.
He stressed that improving the ease of doing business is central to boosting private sector confidence and unlocking industrial expansion.
“We cannot accelerate transformation when businesses are slowed down by unclear procedures, overlapping mandates, and avoidable delays,” President Mahama said.
He noted that investors and entrepreneurs should not be made to spend productive time navigating multiple public offices for routine approvals, adding that such inefficiencies discourage innovation and slow economic growth.
A key concern raised by the President was the impact of regulatory bottlenecks on young entrepreneurs, many of whom, he said, abandoned promising ventures due to difficulties formalising and sustaining businesses.
“A serious investor should not receive conflicting signals from agencies of the same state. A young entrepreneur should not abandon a promising idea simply because formalising a business has become too cumbersome,” he stated.
President Mahama emphasised that regulatory reform is not merely administrative, but a strategic economic priority that directly affects productivity, job creation, and competitiveness.
He said a simplified, transparent, and predictable regulatory system would encourage business expansion, improve compliance, and attract both local and foreign investment.
“Clear procedures, reduced duplication, transparent rules, and faster service delivery all influence a business’s decision to expand, hire more staff, and compete more effectively,” he added.
The President further indicated that the government is working to streamline processes within the business environment as part of broader reforms aimed at reducing the cost of doing business and improving efficiency across state institutions.
He reiterated that economic transformation depends not only on macroeconomic stability but also on how effectively the state supports production and private enterprise.
President Mahama also linked the reform agenda to ongoing efforts to strengthen industrialisation and value chain development, stressing that a more efficient regulatory system would help connect farmers, processors, manufacturers, and exporters within a more productive ecosystem.
The Ghana CEO Summit brought together policymakers, business leaders, and development partners to discuss strategies for accelerating economic transformation through reforms, technology, and industrialisation.
The President used the platform to reaffirm the government’s commitment to building a more competitive business environment capable of supporting long-term investment and sustainable growth.
