High taxes on imports have been cited as a major factor accounting for the low patronage of technology based applications by businesses in Ghana.
This is the concern being raised by players in the ICT sector.
According to them, the situation has also affected the larger economy as businesses are unable to expand and employ labour to contribute to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Chairperson of the ICT Sector of the Association of Ghana Industries, Nana Beechem tells Citi Business News a tax waiver system will allow businesses adopt modern technology trends to enhance growth.
“The country does not manufacture, we don’t even assemble and yet the taxes on them are so high. We pay at least 20 percent for import duties. When you add all the taxes, for any item that comes in, you get at least 30 percent excluding imports taxes that you are likely to get back,” she said.
The Chairperson further stated, “If the uptake of the technology is slow because of this, the person does not have the opportunity to go and work in an office where they will use the latest technology, their productivity is not improved so the companies are not as productive as they ought to be so they don’t also end up employing more people and paying more taxes and contribute to the economy as a whole.”
Nana Beechem who is also the Managing Director of sales and maintenance of application systems firm, Seatec Limited was speaking at a seminar on using Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise solutions to meet evolving communication needs of businesses.
