The Minority Leader in Parliament, Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has warned that persistent political interference in Ghana’s business environment is weakening investor confidence and posing a serious challenge to the country’s economic prospects.
He noted that the increasing tendency for partisan considerations to influence access to state contracts and business opportunities was eroding merit and distorting fair competition.
“The biggest problem we have as a country is our political interference in everything. And it is killing initiative,” he further decried.
Osahen Afenyo-Markin who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu gave the warning when he addressed the 2025 Kwahu Business Forum in Mpraeso on Saturday April 19, 2025.
The Forum, which was on the theme: “The Future of Business: The Role of the Financial Sector,” brought together entrepreneurs, government officials, private sector actors, and development partners to help promote the country’s businesses.
Osahen Afenyo-Markin told the stakeholders that political interference discourages honest effort and stifles innovation, especially among young Ghanaians who are trying to succeed without political ties.
“When everything is politicised from cocoa purchasing to road contracts to even small loans, you push away people who just want to work hard and succeed,” the Minority Leader bemoaned.
He called on both political leaders and state institutions to act more responsibly and uphold fairness in public economic affairs.
“The success of a business should never depend on which political regime is in power, nor should it be stifled by partisan labels.
“Our role as political leaders is not to frustrate private sector actors, but to foster a fair and enabling environment where merit, innovation, and hard work thrive,” Osahen Afenyo-Markin pointed out.
In his view, Ghana cannot nurture a thriving private sector if success is determined by connections rather than competence.
“As political leaders, we must remain committed to supporting our entrepreneurs and the private sector. Let us work together to build a business ecosystem where success is driven by merit, hard work, and opportunity, not by politics.
“We need to get to a point where your political background doesn’t determine your success in business. That’s the only way we can truly grow as a nation,” he reiterated.
Financial support and resilience of businesses
Osahen Afenyo-Markin pointed out that no economy can thrive where access to finance remains elusive.
“Ghana’s economic future will depend heavily on the strength, agility, and resilience of its business community, and on the strategic role the financial sector plays in supporting, particularly, our indigenous enterprises to scale up and succeed. “When we empower local businesses with the capital and confidence they need to grow, we do more than boost productivity, we open up new pathways for job creation,” Osahen Afenyo-Markin emphasised.
According to him, a country where youth unemployment remains one of the most urgent national challenges, building a strong and inclusive financial ecosystem is not just an economic imperative; it is also a social one.
Political favouritism
Osahen Afenyo-Markin also advised the youth to avoid relying on political favouritism as a shortcut to wealth, warning that it only breeds inequality and resentment.
National Orientation Programme
Osahen Afenyo-Markin has also advocated the establishment of a National Orientation Programme built around exemplary values, one that instills a renewed sense of civic responsibility, discipline, hard work, and enterprise in our national psyche. “We must deliberately shape a new Ghanaian mindset, one that values hard work over shortcuts, merit over connections, and contribution over entitlement.
“The public sector is already choked, and the jobs of the future will be created in the private sector. This is the mindset people need to have.
“Such a programme, especially if targeted at the youth, could play a transformative role in reshaping national attitudes and helping us build a country where excellence is expected, rewarded, and sustained,” the Minority Leader suggested.
Afenyo-Markin’s personal experience
The Minority Leader gave his personal experience as a private sector operator worthy of emulation.
“As someone who has spent over two decades not only in public service but also in private enterprise, I understand the hurdles that define the entrepreneurial journey.
“I have walked the often-unpredictable road of private enterprise, and so I know firsthand the thrill of opportunity and the weight of challenges that every Ghanaian entrepreneur must carry.
“I understand what it means to raise capital, to innovate through constraint, and to stay resilient in the face of shifting market dynamics and a fragile entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“These personal experiences have deepened my conviction that entrepreneurship is not just a livelihood; it is nation-building. It is also what continues to shape my passion for championing policies that support and empower Ghanaian entrepreneurs and the private sector, because I don’t just sympathise with their journey out of theory; I identify with it from lived experience.
“I understand their struggles, their sacrifices, and their ambitions. And it is precisely because of this that I believe, as a political class, we have a responsibility to depoliticise entrepreneurship, to create an ecosystem where business owners can thrive without fear of being tagged or targeted. “When we politicise local enterprise, we create an uneven playing field that stifles innovation and discourages risk-taking. When this happens, it is foreign businesses that stand tall and dominate our markets while our indigenous enterprises, unfairly branded or sidelined, are made to struggle. That cannot be the path to sustainable growth,” Osahen Afenyo-Markin concluded.
The Kwahu Business Forum, which began as a campaign initiative and has now become an annual platform, bringing together stakeholders across party lines to discuss economic development in practical terms.
