Submitted by: Submitted by Sitsofe79
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Category: Other Topics
Date Submitted: 09/30/2011 07:21 AM
SECTION EIGHT: POLICY INITIATIVES
Private Sector Development
Improving Regulatory Structures for Doing Business
1. Mr. Speaker, during the past two years Ghana’s efforts to reform its
business environment has made it a “top 10” reformer globally as
measured by the World Bank Group’s Doing Business Report. This also
makes Ghana the highest ranked country in the ECOWAS sub-region.
2. Mr. Speaker, we wish to assure Ghanaians and the international
community that we will not be complacent but rather maintain the pace of
reforms that have brought us this far.
3. Mr Speaker, although a lot of progress has been made with the passage of
new laws and revisions to existing laws, limited attention has been given
to institutional issues that make such laws effective in promoting private
sector-led growth. Typical weaknesses of our regulatory system include
unclear divisions of regulatory responsibilities among agencies and
duplication in their functions and powers.
4. Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, an initiative will be launched in 2008 to further
strengthen the regulatory environment. Specifically, the initiative will focus
on simplifying the current regulatory regime applicable in Ghana,
reviewing the functions of regulatory agencies to remove overlaps, scale
down on the number of regulatory authorities and establish benchmarks
for good practices.
Energy Sector
Importation and Use of Incandescent Lamps
5. Mr. Speaker, the nation has just come out of an energy crisis that was
characterised by shortage in power supply. Government’s efforts to
resolve the crisis have focused on modernising and expanding power
infrastructure, ensuring full cost recovery of power supply and the
productive and efficient use of energy.
6. While increasing the percentage of households with access to electricity
supply, Government is mindful of the need to conserve power. In order to
promote the efficient use of energy Government will introduce legislation
seeking to phase...