The Private Enterprise Federation, PEF, together with three state institutions, have developed a new services charter aimed at improving the ease of doing business.
The institutions include the Factories Inspectorate, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Spatial Planning Department.
Among others, PEF in a survey cited the delays in acquiring permits from such institutions as partly accountable for the payment of bribes to facilitate the issuance of relevant documents.
The partners are optimistic Ghana could improve in its ranking in the ease of doing business with a change in service delivery times. Clara Kasser Tee is Consultant to the Service Charter project, and she spoke to Citi Business News on the reforms.
“To improve and eliminate to the barest minimum administrative corruption, we definitely have to work on eliminating the delays. In this, transparency is key. So when you have an efficient service delivery charter, you know the fees because the fees are stated in there, you know the requirements because there is a checklist in there, the documents that you are looking at, and you also know the services that you provide so there is no situation where you go to this agency and you are tossed about.”
“That is where the frustration sets in and people start to think of finding easier ways which leads to corruption. At the end of the day, in terms of the attitudinal revolution, what we are aiming at is that for the public agencies, it becomes clear that your number one duty is the welfare of the people of Ghana” she noted.
The latest World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking shows that Ghana has dropped from 114 in 2019 to 118 in 2020.
Source: Citi