Although government has done a lot in promoting the country as the preferred investment destination for investors looking to establish in the African market, investors are frustrated by delays in obtaining permits and licences when they come to set up, Peter Tsikata of Petersen ESCROW and Land Title Services Ltd. has said.

Citing the process involved in acquiring and registering land or operating in the real estate sector as a case in point, he said investors end up getting short-changed, frustrated or have to give up altogether because of the cumbersome and unregulated manner of the trade.

“The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre does a hell of a job going abroad to woo investors to the country; but when these investors come to Ghana and they need to purchase land to start their operations, it becomes a huge problem. Some of them get so frustrated that they just leave and go,” he lamented – adding “this has happened so many times and continues to happen as I speak”.

Mr. Tsikata spoke in Accra at the launch of Petersen ESCROW and Land Title Services Limited, a service that enables land buyers to verify the validity of land documents. It also allows sellers to verify whether the buyer has enough funds to pay for the land, thereby eliminating fraud and litigation.

In the absence of a code of ethics and no licencing or regulator, he said, fraud takes place on a daily basis in the real estate industry; and people are taken undue advantage of because there no entity to control quacks who come into the business to scam and defraud unsuspecting people.

To him, the only way the country can sustain its reputation as the destination of choice for foreign direct investments is to do things according to international best practices. “ESCROW is one of those practices in many developed economies. It helps smoothen the real estate process, and we want that to happen here in Ghana.”

He also called for speedy action on the Real Estate bill, which seeks to among other things establish a body to regulate real estate transactions – including the sale, rental and leasing of real estate as well as overseeing and licencing real estate agents. The bill, which is before Parliament, has become necessary due to increased cases of fraud associated with real estate business transactions.

Delays come with dire cost implications to private – PEF

Mr. Tsikata is not the only one who feels that delays in obtaining permits and licences are eroding gains made in promoting the country as the best place to do business on the African continent.

CEO of the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), Dr. Nana Osei Bonsu, told the B&FT that any delay on the part of a permit or licence-issuing body has huge cost implication for the private sector. “Once there is any delay on the part of permit and licence-issuing institutions, it costs the business owner some money – which is what we must work to avoid,” Dr. Bonsu stated.

Dr. Bonsu spoke at a separate event to launch Service Delivery Charters for state-owned permit and licence-issuing entities in Accra. The charters seek to enable institutions like the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Factories Inspectorate and Land Use, and Spatial Planning Authority among others to quicken their timelines for providing required authorisations to the private sector.

“A private person has set up the business and needs these permits and licences to operate; and when these requirements are delayed, they cannot reapply for opportunities. It also limits their ability to compete, their ability to put their resources into productive use; and this, ultimately, has dire cost implications,” he added.

He also admonished the private sector to know what is required of them before they engage these institutions, noting: “You cannot wait until the eleventh hour and yet you expect miracles at the end of the day”.