Local media in Ghana has reported that the Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Tove Degnbol, has disclosed that many Danish investors are refusing to do business in the West African nation because of corruption.
The diplomat said officials of government agencies demand bribe in order to facilitate investments. The BFT in Accra said Tove Degnbol made this public at a business meeting with selected entities with Danish ties.
The Ambassador lamented how the development is affecting Danish companies. She said
“Danish companies are reporting that they often find it difficult to do business in Ghana because they are confronted with requests for illegal payment of services or ‘facilitation money’. At the Embassy, we are proud when companies tell us that they would rather lose an order than become involved in the endless game of paying and being required to pay even more”
The ambassador is also reported to have said that the high levels of corruption in Ghana has forced the Danish Embassy to adopt an anti-corruption policy to ensure businesses are set free.
“We are trying to map where some of these things happen. We are anonymous because we are not trying to highlight a particular case. But we are trying to see if it is the customs clearing in the harbor, the public offices when you are trying to apply for say driver’s license or somewhere else. And we will be using these mapping where we see bribery and corruption taking place in our policy dialogue with the government, which will be used to develop initiatives to battle corruption.”
Denmark is one of the countries globally recognized for fighting corruption with much success. Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, ranked Denmark as the least corrupt country over the past decade.
In 2016 Ghana was ranked 70th on the ladder of over 170 countries when it comes to the fight against corruption. Ghana’s new president, Akufo Addo has promised to deal with the canker under his government.
Source: Africafeeds.com
