Chairman of the McDan Group of Companies, Drb Daniel McKorley, has said that one of the things that impedes local businesses is that ministers of state do not attach a business mindset in dealing with them.
He explained that many ministers in the country have an ‘unapproachable’ personality around them, especially when they are dealing with indigenous businessmen.
Speaking on a panel at the Ghana Investment and Opportunities Summit, organised by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) in the United Kingdom, Dr McKorley explained that after investing so much into many sectors of the economy, he has come to the realisation that many local businessmen are not protected.
“To be able to invest about $38million within one year, $88million in salt within 2 years, and still be able to procure cargo planes and vessels to connect the continent, tells you that it’s a favourable place to do business. And when you are doing business in Ghana, and luckily most of our policies are quite friendly, and most of our ministers are really not approachable.
“I don’t want to live here and hit on my ministers, but some of my ministers… if you ask me, it’s about time they begin to take businessmen in Ghana very seriously. I believe they don’t take businessmen in their own country very seriously because we are not protected,” he said.
The Summit, which is the third in the series, is aimed at bringing together delegates from the international delegates investor community, venture capitalists and private equity fund managers, among others, for discussions and the exploration of investment opportunities within various sectors of the Ghanaian economy.