迦纳术略（SIL）集团公司创始人、阿索格利州国王大酋长十四世·托比·阿菲德阁下（Togbe Afede XIV） 表示，由于利率过高，加纳企业或将错失在非洲大陆自由贸易区 (AfCFTA) 市场竞争的机会。

由于获取资金和资金成本在企业面临的主要挑战中名列前茅，特别是对中小企业 (SME) 而言，托比阁下警告说，自由大陆贸易区带来的繁荣和更高经济增长的预期成果可能会被错过除非立即采取措施来补救这种情况。

“加纳的利率太高了，”这位传统领导人和商业大亨感叹并补充道：“当国家以较低的利率向企业提供贷款时，它会刺激增长。今年 1 月央行货币政策委员会 (MPC) 将政策利率从之前的 27% 上调 100 个基点至 28%。因此，当其他国家/地区降低利率时，我们却提高了我们的利率以加重企业负担；这就是竞争力的裂痕，因为当地企业无力以如此高的利率借贷。”

事实上，虽然其他非洲自由贸易区成员国的利率为个位数，但加纳的平均利率却公然达到36%——许多市场观察人士认为，这可能会使国内公司在自由贸易区内失去竞争力。

这位国王大酋长补充说，他无法理解为什么多年来赞比亚、利比里亚和塞拉利昂等国的利率可能比加纳低得多。

他说，按照目前的速度，这将使来自这些国家的企业比在同一市场上使用类似产品竞争的加纳人更具竞争力。

尤其令人沮丧的是，面对当前的经济危机，已经在努力扩大非洲自由贸易区市场规模的中小企业预计将因近期政策利率上调而导致借贷成本增加而受到更大打击，这种情况他说有可能会削弱信心。

“我认为这是我们企业面临的最大问题。它正在影响制造业和商业，同时银行正在赚取更多利润；即使在疫情时代，银行业的利润仍在上升。正是由于政府的债务交换计划，银行业的利润首次出现下降。” 托比阁下说。

十四世·托比·阿菲德阁下在将于 2023 年 4 月 23 日至 28 日在加纳首都阿克拉举行的世界贸易中心 (WTC) 第 53 届大会的新闻发布会上发表上述言论，并呼吁制定慎重的计划，使借贷成本降低企业——尤其是国家战略性行业的企业。

世贸中心大会 

世贸中心年度大会是该组织有史以来最盛大的活动，将汇集来自全球所有 100 个世贸中心的代表和商业代表团。

第 53 届的主题是 “迈向非洲经济一体化和增强全球影响力”。来自 14 个非洲国家的代表团——包括来自撒哈拉以南非洲的 4 个和来自其他大陆的 80 个国家——将出席会议，以强调被誉为世界下一个经济前沿的非洲独特的贸易机会。

世贸中心成员服务部主任 Crystal Edn 在她的讲话中提到，这次重要的聚会将创建一个平台，共同审议和寻找改变非洲经济发展的解决方案，并通过提高工业化和附加值使它们与全球经济相关联到自然资源。

纳米比亚副高级专员伊芙琳·汉森 (Eveline Hanson) 表示，纳米比亚政府很高兴能参加在非洲举行的第一届世贸中心年度大会，因为它希望这将导致建立伙伴关系，从而带来投资资金，以促进该国的发展发展。

High Interest Rates Could Wreck AfCFTA Dreams  - Togbe Afede XIV

Businesses could miss out on the opportunity to be competitive in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market due to exorbitant interest rates, founder of SAS Group of Companies and Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State,Togbe Afede XIV, has said.

With access and cost of capital ranking high among businesses’ major challenges, particularly for small and medium-scale enterprise (SMEs), he warned that the envisioned outcomes of prosperity and higher economic growth on the back of the free continental trade area could be missed unless immediate steps are taken to remedy the situation.

“Interest rates in Ghana are too expensive,” the traditional leader and business mogul lamented, adding: “When countries lend to businesses at lower rates it stimulates growth. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the central bank in January this year raised the policy rate by 100 basis points to 28 from the previous 27 percent. So, when other countries were lowering their rates we were increasing ours to overburden businesses; and that is the rift in competitiveness, because local businesses cannot afford to borrow at those exorbitant rates.”

Indeed, while interest rates in other AfCFTA member-states are in single-digits, Ghana’s is brazenly at an average 36 percent – which many market watchers believe could make domestic companies uncompetitive within the free trade zone.

The Agbogbomefia added that he cannot fathom why interest rates in Zambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone, among others, could be so much lower than in Ghana over the years. At the current rate, he said it will make businesses from such countries more competitive than Ghanaians competing in the same market with similar products.

He said it is particularly disheartening that SMEs which are already struggling to scale-up for the AfCFTA market in the face of current economic crisis are expected to be hit harder by increases in borrowing costs due to recent hikes in the policy rate, a situation that he says has the potential to dampen confidence.

“I think this is the biggest problem our businesses are facing. It is affecting the manufacturing sector and commerce while the banks are making more profits; even in the era of COVID-19, the banking sector profits still went up. It is taking government’s debt exchange programme to see banking sector profits go down for the first time,” he said.

Togbe Afede XIV made these remarks at the press launch for the 53rd General Assembly of the World Trade Centre (WTC), which is to be held in Accra-Ghana between April 23rd and 28th 2023, and called for deliberate plans to make lending cheaper for businesses – particularly those in the country’s strategic industries.

WTC General Assembly

The Annual General Assembly of WTC is the biggest event on the organisation’s calendar, and will bring together representatives and business delegations from all the 100 WTCs worldwide.

The theme for the 53rd edition is ‘Toward African economic integration and enhanced global presence’. A delegation from 14 African countries – including four from sub-Saharan Africa and 80 others from other continents – will be present to highlight Africa’s unique trade opportunities touted as the world’s next economic frontier.

Director of Member Services-WTCs, Crystal Edn, in her address mentioned that the prominent gathering will create a platform to collectively deliberate and find solutions to change the narrative of African economies, and make them relevant to the global economy through increased industrialisation and value addition to natural resources.

Deputy Namibian High Commissioner, Eveline Hanson, on her part indicated that the Namibian government is excited to be part of the first WTC AGM being held in Africa, as it hopes this will lead to creating partnerships which will bring in investment funds to promote the country’s development.

来源：SIL

编译：草语云言