Partner at Firmus Advisory Ltd has said it has become necessary to hold a regulatory forum for the public to connect directly with the various regulatory and registration agencies.

Edem Seshie said the regulatory and registration laws and procedures for setting up or operating a business in the country keeps changing from time to time without any public education.

“we have GRA, EPA, GIPC, registrar general and other allied agencies at this forum to provide a one-stop shop of information to stakeholders in setting up business knowing the procedure to follow to make it easier for both domestic and foreign companies because our consultancy firm has realised the laws this agencies operate with change frequently leaving the public ignorant” he added.

Taking his turn to address participants, Chief Revenue Officer at the Policy and Programming department of the Ghana Revenue Authority Richard Hakeem Quainoo said companies which site their businesses in Accra and Tema automatically forfeit any VAT incentive that comes with location of manufacturing companies.

He stated that any company that sites in any other regional capital other than Greater Accra region enjoys 25 per cent while others which locate their business outside the regional capitals in the country have their tax slashed by half.

Mr Quainoo said “The corporate rate we have is 25% of concession and when one site outside any of the regional capitals, you enjoy 50% of your tax. Any company that has 1% of its workforce as graduate directly from any of the universities have 10% of the cost of that employee cut off”.

The representative from the Registrar General’s Department Madam Matilda Osei bemoaned the difficulties her outfit has to undertake to scrutinize handwritten forms filled by applicants for the registration of their business.

She entreated the public to make use of the online registration platform when they are sure all their required documents are genuine.

The head of legal division at the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Naa Lamle Orleans-Lindsay encouraged the public to approach her office for any assistance in setting up a business in the country.

Madam Lamle stated that very soon all regulatory and registration agencies will be consolidated under one umbrella agency to make it easier for anyone to register and pay all fees in one office. This she said the government is taking gradual steps to do and so far, all agencies have met in that regard.

The one-day regulatory forum held at the British Council in Accra ended with most of the agencies in the business industry taking turns to address participants and providing answers to pertinent issues and questions raised.