Nine Things Akufo-Addo Told The BBC About E-Levy And Ghana's Economy
- The president yesterday granted an interview exclusively to the BBC where he answered pressing questions on the economy and the E-Levy
- Nana Akufo-Addo said Ghana is currently facing economic challenges because of the difficulties heralded by the Covid-19 pandemic for two years and recently by the Russia-Ukraine war
- He said in the next year, Ghana's economic situation would have improved because of the measures being put in place
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President Akufo-Addo, on Monday, April 4, 2022, made nine key pronouncements about Ghana's economy and the controversial E-Levy during an interview with the BBC.
He told the BBC's Peter Ōkwóchè that Ghana remains a good investment destination despite the country's economic challenges.
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He said a year from now, the country's current situation of high inflation, depreciating cedi, and other poor economic statistics would have improved.
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The one-on-one interview was broadcast on BBC's Focus On Africa, BBC News (World) and BBC World Service.
Below are the president's nine major statements about the economy and the E-Levy, and accompanying quotations.
Economy
1. Ghana's economy is not doing terribly
"I don't know which economy in the world is not doing badly."
2. Ghana's cedi has begun to appreciate
"It's begun to firm up. We are seeing the cedi systematically appreciating against the dollar."
3. Ghana is an excellent place to invest despite the challenges
"Where would you put your money in the world today? In Britain? Which has been suffering the worst standard of living statistics for over 30 years? The world is going through a very difficult time. Ghana is no exception; Nigeria is no exception."
4. There is no country in the world that is not escaping both the ravages of the Covid-19 and the impact of the Ukraine-Russia war
"What you need to look at is where are the elements being put on the ground that look beyond the Covid and the Russia-Ukraine war. I think you will find that the recovery programme that we have in Ghana is considered very credible. And it is what is going to allow us to come out of this period a stronger economy."
E-Levy
5. The digital economy in Ghana is emerging as the biggest economy in the country, and for a long time, it has not had any taxation at all
"It is important that now they also come into the net. Ghana has the lowest tax-to-GDP ratio of any country with an equivalent economy. Ghana is doing 13% tax to GDP while the West African subregion does an average of 18%. Ghanaians are undertaxed."
6. E-Levy won't tax the impoverished
"We are talking about taxing an industry."
7. People never like taxes. Especially businesses
8. Nothing is fundamentally wrong with Ghana's economy
"We are just one of the country's badly affected by what has gone on for the last two years [Covid]. Until 2020 we were growing our economy about 7% the fastest growth in the world".
9. It has been a difficult period for Ghana but economy will bounce back
"I have no doubt that next year, if you were to come and speak to me like you are doing today, we'll have different facts to look at."
Survey shows more than 80% of Ghanaians want E-Levy scrapped
The findings of a new study show that 81.6% of Ghanaians sampled for research on the E-Levy are against the proposed tax regime.
The study by the Center for Economics Finance and Inequality Studies revealed that the over 80% of respondents against the tax want the Electronic Transaction Levy, which is currently before Parliament, totally canceled.
According to a report by Joy News, the study on the contentious E-Levy was carried out by Dr Benjamin Amoah of the University of Ghana Business School and Professor Anthony Amoah of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development.
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