Farmerline CEO: Let multinational firms retain revenue in Ghana

Alloysious Attah, chief executive officer of Farmerline Limited is advocating for the enactment of a policy that will ensure multinational firms retain a portion of  their revenue in the country.

The call is coming on the back of announcement by Twitter to establish its African headquarters in Ghana.

Speaking with Benjamin Offei-Addo on the Candid Voice, Attah said government must introduce incentives to make it easier for the firms to retain parts of their profit here.

“So, behind the scenes from many of these companies, headquarters on paper but if you look at their books, I have not looked at Twitter’s book but many of them are keeping their money in Mauritius, Amsterdam, London and they will move it here and only spend when they have to,” he said.

“So, it’s like an operational centre that actually spends, revenue goes elsewhere. So what I want to see is that if Twitter is bringing a holding company here, maybe revenue from the region should be held by Ghanaian banks. Is there a room for that?”

Attah is warning that Ghana could be short-changed if it only becomes a hub to host operational headquarters of multinational firms.

“We have to do everything to ensure money stays here, also we have the glory, we have the building, but the money is in San Francisco or Mauritius and we may not be benefitting here.”

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 Background

The American microblogging and social networking service Twitter on Monday 12 April announced that it has settled on Ghana to establish its Africa headquarters.

According to Twitter, it chose Ghana because “as a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate”.

It added: “Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area aligns with our overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa.”

Fred Dzakpata 

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