A bill geared at promoting more favorable economic conditions for nascent businesses in the country should be ready to be tabled for Parliamentary consideration by January 2021, Minster for Business Development, Alhaji Dr. Ibrahim Awal Mohammed has disclosed.

The Startup Bill, if approved by the house, will among other things provide tax holidays to startups by as much as eight to 10 years, the Minister said.

Elaborating on key points form his address at the 2020 edition of the Ghana Business Awards, the Minster suggested that the move is expedient as businesses in their infancy are oftentimes crippled by debt obligations and sees this as the most appropriate measure to ensure they not only to thrive up until breakeven point but proceed to sustained profitability.

“This bill will seek to present tax holidays for startups for up to 8 years. We want startups, when they begin operations not to pay taxes for up to eight or even ten years. The essence is to encourage young business owners to plough back their profits [into their businesses and consequently, the economy for both] to grow.

We have formed a committee to work on the Startup Bill, and within the next two months, the bill should be ready for Cabinet consideration and then for Parliamentary approval,” he explained, adding that the bill is in line with his Ministry’s philosophy which seeks to support businesses on every scale but has a favorable bias toward small businesses.

As further evidence of this, Dr. Awal revealed that under the CARES programme the government through his Ministry and affiliated agencies is set to roll out a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Mobile Clinic, with the express purpose of providing mobile business support services to all SMES in the country.

“For the first three months,” he said, “we are targeting one million SMEs to build their capacities so that they can get back to business and create jobs for young people.”

“We’ll be providing training in marketing, pitching, branding, financial management et cetera so that those affected by the pandemic are able to bounce back and create jobs for the people. We want to urge every business to patronise the Clinics when the programme commences,” he added.

With nations across the globe, especially in Europe experiencing a second wave of COVID-19, which has led to governments reintroducing drastic restrictions on movement and reports that a similar surge in cases could be recorded on the African continent, Dr. Awal urged businesses to ensure that staff and customers alike adhere to safety protocols as the short-term inconveniences might be the most prudent economic decisions they make.

source: thebftonline