Yaw Appiah Lartey of Deloitte Africa has advised government to focus its attention on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in sectors where they perform well, particularly financial services and construction, rather than spreading resources across struggling areas.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, September 1, during a discussion on the SIGA annual State Ownership Report, Mr. Lartey said government needs to “diversify its portfolio” and channel support into areas already yielding strong results.
“If you look at the portfolio performance, the government performs a lot better in the construction sector and the financial services sector. So if the government is supposed to play or do business, they should support the portfolio in areas of financial services,” he explained.
He cited Ghana Reinsurance as an example of an SOE that has consistently paid dividends to the state.
“We should support and expand such businesses and enable them to grow so that at least they can pay dividends to the government and employ more people,” he said.
Mr. Lartey also praised SOEs in the construction and housing sector, including CDC and the Ghana Housing Authority, for showing strong results.
“The construction and real estate sector is also a good business for the government. Government has a lot of labour in the sector, and we should emphasise and build on that,” he added.
However, he cautioned that some sectors, particularly energy, continue to weigh heavily on the state’s finances. He argued that consistently loss-making enterprises should either attract private sector participation or undergo restructuring.
“It’s just interesting to note that Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company, for instance, has consistently been posting losses and has recently been acquired by Ghana Gas Company, which is a good-performing company.
“The ones that are performing well are acquiring those that are under-performing. That’s a good strategy, and we should encourage it,” he said.
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