Economic freedom to do business goes hand in hand with economic development and a thriving private sector, and these, in turn, underpin poverty elimination and the pursuit of shared prosperity.

#EDGECon2019 assembles series of panels that tackle six out of the ten elements of the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report: starting (and running) a business;  registering property; paying taxes; getting credit, trading across borders, and resolving insolvency. 

#EDGECon2019 takes particular interest in Government’s Digitization Agenda and Private Sector Credit support measures announced in Budget 2020 and would have the Finance Minister over for further details. 

Economies that score highest on the ease of doing business ranking share several common features, including the widespread use of electronic systems. The top 20 economies have online business incorporation processes, electronic tax-filing platforms, and allow online procedures related to property transfers. In general, the 20 top performers have sound business regulation with a high degree of transparency. #EDGECon2019 assesses Ghana’s digitization efforts and will profer solutions to expedite progress towards an improved business regulatory environment. 

#EDGECon2019 has represented key state institutions including the Ministries of Finance, Trade & Industry, Business Development, Communication; The Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA); The Registrar Generals Department(RGD); The Ghana Exim Bank; Ghana Investment Promotion Centre(GIPC). Private sector participants for the conference are drawn from key institutions active in entrepreneurship development, development partners, leading academics and researchers, entrepreneurs, BDS consultants, and key industry groupings (PEF, AGI, Chamber of Commerce, All 24 Hubs and Co-working Space providers etc).

Economies that score well on Doing Business indicators benefit from a higher level of entrepreneurial activity. This, in turn, generates better employment, greater government revenue and higher incomes. In addition, where burdensome and protracted regulatory processes exist, the temptation to resort to corruption to get things done may be greater. 

The discussions at #EDGECon2019 seek to demonstrate and document actionable steps to streamline the business regulatory environment to make it easier to do business, allow entrepreneurship to flourish, and make it possible for Ghana’s economic activity to reach its full potential.

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