The leadership of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) is demanding that government, as a matter of urgency, removes subsidies for residential consumers which are being borne by industry.
According to AGI, industry will no longer subsidise residential consumers in the payment of electricity tariffs because it is contributing to the rise in cost of production.
Currently, residential users of electricity pay 60 per cent of the cost, while industry and government pay for the remaining 40 per cent.
President of the AGI, James Asare Adjei, who was speaking at the association’s 56th annual general meeting in Kumasi on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 said: “Industry is no longer in a position to subsidise residential consumers in the payment of electricity tariffs”.
Even though he lauded power producers for an improvement in energy supply, he said “it has also brought a high and unbearable electricity supply tariff cost to industries in particular and businesses in general”.
In his view, the development has led to a helpless situation for industries, therefore, “everything should be done to improve efficiency and subsequently reduce the tariff levels as it is rendering our businesses uncompetitive”.
The Association is also calling on government to review the Ghana Industrial Policy.
He expressed disappointment over the decline in the contribution of the manufacturing sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the years.
For him, manufacturing and industry is critical to the economy. He indicated that an increase in population coupled with the thousands of graduates from the country’s tertiary institutions, have made it important for the creation of more jobs.
“The implementation of the industrial policy which was developed together with the private sector five years ago with the objective of resuscitating the manufacturing sector has been poorly done. There is, therefore, the need for a review of the policy and its implementation programme as well as provision of necessary resources for full implementation,” he added.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
