In 2015, The Multimedia Group partnered with the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development to launch the Business Environment Enablement Project (BEEP), a mission to bring public awareness to the local government and business agencies in Ghana.
Since then, both parties have effectively ramped efforts to galvanize discussions around private sector investments and sustainable growth, but more needs to be done.
On Tuesday, key stakeholders of the British High Commission and The Multimedia Group convened at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra to announce that starting on Wednesday, February 6th, Joy News, Joy FM, Adom TV, Adom FM would launch an hour-long, bi-weekly on-air conversation surrounding one of the following four topics:
1) Commercial Courts: Assessment of small claims procedures and pre-trial conference.
2) Customs: Assessment of the new paperless systems of clearing imports at Ghana Ports in Tema and Takoradi.
3) Tax: Assessment of the effectiveness of the Total Revenue Integrated Processing System (TRIPS) in tax administration in Ghana.
4) Business Registration: Assessment of business registration process for business start-ups.
“We engage the public to demand that there are reforms in business administrative agencies, said Nana Osei-Bonsu, CEO of Private Enterprise Foundation, adding that “so at least we can get a better World Bank ranking from 102 to 46 in 2019.”
Trade Advisor for the Department of International Development, Nana Frempongmaa Arhin, said that she is excited about the partnership between her agency and Ghana and “we hope that you will have honest and frank debates about how we can change Ghana.”
Recent assessments of the topics illustrated found that delivery of its output was slower than expected. The on-air discussions aim to incline progress for the betterment of the local government, judiciary, business registration and the Ghana Revenue
Authority. 
Efforts from successive governments and development partners to restructure the country’s business environment have been helpful, but more needs to be done, according to the Department of International Development report.
“In the World Bank Doing Business report, Ghana’s ranking declined from 70 in 2015 to 108 in 2017. This finding is corroborated by the BEEP Baseline Survey Report (2017) which indicates that a majority of the surveyed firms, over 60 percent, assess the ease of doing business in Ghana as having stayed the same over the past three months,” the report reads.
It continues: “Only 15.5 percent of surveyed firms assessed the ease of business as having gotten better, and 24.4 percent of firms actually indicate that the ease of business has gotten worse.”
As the largest media organization in Ghana, The Multimedia Group will take the lead in embarking on a comprehensive media campaign to engage and inform the public on ongoing reforms.
Other partners of this initiative include the Private Enterprise Federation, Institute of Economic Affairs, and the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana.
